


A Cold Influence

by Sand_wolf579



Category: The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Enemies to Friends, Frenemies, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Minor Injuries, Past Child Abuse, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 06:51:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19268023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sand_wolf579/pseuds/Sand_wolf579
Summary: Ever since Wally was a little kid there was a cold presence watching out for him. He knew that his uncle would never approve, but Wally found that he just couldn't help but befriend Captain Cold.





	1. Chapter 1

"One thousand five hundred and three," The small red-headed seven year old muttered under his breath. "One thousand five hundred and four. One thousand five hundred and five." His counting was interrupted when a streak like lightening went zooming past him, right into the museum across the street. Wally stared with wide eyes and wondered what he had just seen, or if it had even been real.

Now that he was no longer focusing on counting, Wally noticed that there was a lot of noise coming from the museum. A bunch of people were screaming and running away, and there were some other loud noises coming from inside the building. He could also hear police sirens in the distance and coming closer. Something  _big_ was happening. It might even be a robbery.

Wally thought about how cool and scary it would be if there really  _was_ a robbery going on over there. It wasn't until he heard the clanging bell of a clock somewhere in the city did Wally remember what he had been doing.

"Um, one thousand five hundred and...and…" Wally bit his lip. He wasn't sure what number he was one. He knew that his last number had ended in five, but that had been a while ago. Should he just continue from there? Should he just take a guess and continue with one thousand, five hundred and forty seven? But Wally didn't know for sure if that was right or not, and he wanted to be as right as possible about this.

There was only one way to be completely positive about this.

"One." Wally said with a sigh as he crouched down. "Two. Three." He picked up a stick and wrote down '1505', so he wouldn't forget where he had gotten to before. "Four."

"Hey, kid," Wally jumped and turned to find a weird man standing behind him. Wally knew that he shouldn't judge people for being weird before he really got to know them, but he knew that the man had to be pretty weird to be wearing a blue suit coat thing with a furry hood and skiing goggles glasses things, even though it was the middle of summer. "What're you doing here?"

The man didn't sound mad, just curious and maybe the tiniest bit concerned. Still, Wally naturally hunched his shoulders and tried to make himself seem smaller. He hoped that the man would just leave him alone. "I'm, uh, counting." Wally sound in a quiet voice.

The man frowned slightly and knelt down. "What are you counting?"

"Seconds." Wally answered as he wrote down the number '4' in the dirt with the stick. It may be a much lower number than before, but he didn't want to forget it. He wanted to be as exact as possible.

The man leaned forward and looked at the numbers Wally had written down. "And you counted all those seconds?" Wally nodded, feeling somewhat proud of himself, because they were kind of high numbers. The man frowned for a moment, but it wasn't a mean frown, more like a thinking one. "Are those just the seconds that you've been right here for?"

"Um, yeah." Wally nodded. The man's frown deepened.

"Have you been waiting here by yourself?" He asked.

"Uh-huh." Wally started drawing little lines in the dirt with his stick. "I'm supposed to spend the weekend with my uncle, but he wasn't here when my dad came to drop me off."

"So your old man just left you here?" Now the man's frown was an angry one, and Wally found himself shrinking back from it, even though he didn't think the anger was towards him.

"It's okay." Wally said. He didn't say ' _I'm used to it_ ', because he had long since learned that he should keep as many thoughts about his daddy's 'mistakes' or 'bad choices' to himself. "I'm a big kid. I can take care of myself."

The man's frown shrank slightly. He took his goggles glasses things off and looked Wally in the eyes. "I'm sure you can, but you've been out here by yourself for over twenty five minutes."

"Oh." Wally blinked. Had it really been that long? Wally frowned and looked at the ground. He knew that his dad had dropped him off a little later than the arranged meet up time, but Uncle Barry really should be here by now. Why hadn't he come for Wally yet? Had he forgotten about him. Did he...did Barry not want him around?

"Hey, kid." Wally blinked when the man in the blue coat snapped his fingers in front of his face. "You okay?"

"I-I don't…" Wally's face scrunched up as he felt tears come to his eyes, but he tried to hold them back. Daddy always said that crying was for the weak, and Wally didn't want this man to know that he was weak. "I don't know where Uncle Barry is."

"Barry?" The man looked surprised. "Barry  _Allen?"_  Wally wiped at his eyes and looked at the man.

"Yeah, he's my uncle." Wally said.

"Shit." The man half groaned and half laughed.

Wally's eyes widened. "Do you know him?" Maybe this man knew where his uncle was.

"Yeah, kinda." The man shook his head and looked towards the museum with a frown. "He might be a little bit though."

"Oh." Wally looked back towards the ground. He had hoped that Uncle Barry would be by any minute, but he was taking forever.

The man sighed and muttered a swear under his breath that made Wally flinch. He hated hearing people swear, because it always sounded like they were really angry, even if they were just a little frustrated. "Alright, how 'bout I wait here with you for a bit?" The man sat down on the ground next to Wally.

"Until Uncle Barry gets here?" Wally asked.

"Maybe." The man said. Across the street a bunch of cop cars were just starting to show up. The man narrowed his eyes at them and moved so that he was sitting behind a nearby tree. Wally tilted his head in confusion and crawled over to join him.

"Why are we hiding?" He asked.

The man eyed Wally for a minute, probably to decide whether or not to tell him his reason or not. After a moment the man decided to let him in on his secret. "We're playing a bit of a game. My friends are already over there, and I'm here to be backup incase they need it."

"Backup from what?" Wally asked. "Against the cops."

The man rolled his eyes at Wally's question. "The police like to  _think_ that they're playing our little game, but they're not. Our only opponent is The Flash."

The man said the name like Wally should know who the guy was, but he didn't. "Who is The Flash?"

The man stared at him in disbelief. "...I guess you're not from around here, are you?" Wally shyly shook his head. "I thought so. I mean, there's not a single person in Central City who doesn't know who The Flash is." The man shrugged. "And I pride myself on knowing  _everybody_ in this city, and I'm sorry to say that I have no idea who you are."

"Wallace West." Wally introduced himself with his full name, even though he didn't like it. ' _Wallace'_  just sounded too grown a name for a kid to have. And his dad had yelled at him with his full name so many times that Wally just didn't like hearing it anymore.

"Leonard Snart." The man said with a smirk. "Only my father calls me 'Leonard' though. My friends call me Len."

"Wally." The kid smiled. He could relate to Len's experience with his name. It was nice to run into somebody else who just had a serious sounding name that they didn't really like. "So, uh, who is The Flash?"

"Right." Len smirked a tiny bit as though he knew a secret that Wally didn't. "He's a superhero."

"A superhero?" Wally's eyes widened. "Does he have powers?"

"That's what makes him  _super_." Len raised an eyebrow at him. "He has super speed."

"Awesome!" Wally's eyes brightened in excitement.

"Yeah, something told me that you would like that." Len laughed a little bit.

"You fight a superhero?" Wally gasped slightly. "Are you a supervillain?" Wally knew that villains were the bad guys, but he was still excited by the idea. After all, Len seemed like a really nice guy, and Wally thought that maybe just because he was a bad guy, that didn't mean that he was a bad person.

"Not exactly." Len gestured to the gun holster at his waist and opened it so that Wally could see the gun in there. He took it out and showed it to Wally. "I don't have any powers. I use this cold gun."

"So cool." Wally muttered under his breath. He put out his hand slightly. "Can I see it?"

"Of course." Len carefully handed his gun to Wally. "Just be careful. The trigger is a little touchy." Wally nodded and gently handled the weapon. It looked like something straight out of his comic books. It felt a little cold to the touch though.

"Does it really shoot ice?" Wally lifted the gun so he could look at all of the little details.

"See for yourself." Len nodded towards a pretty, small flower in front of them.

Wally positively beamed. He aimed the gun at the little flower and fired it. It was extremely satisfying to watch the flower instantly be iced, almost like is was being turned to crystal. It was amazing, and a ton of fun. Wally giggled when he saw the frozen flower and the grass surrounding it covered in frost. Len laughed out in amusement too.

"That was so cool!" Wally smiled and adjusted the gun so he could hold it in his right hand and support it with his left . The instant that Wally's hand came in contact with the barrel part of the gun he felt a sensation that just felt so cold that it burned. Wally cried out in pain and dropped the gun. Len's eyes widened.

"Shit." Len kicked the gun aside and took Wally's hand in his own. I looked at Wally's left hand carefully. He even scratched lightly at the boy's palm, which caused Wally to flinch. "It doesn't look like anything serious. Your hand'll probably feel cold for a day or two, but it should be fine." Len started to rub both his hands over Wally's to warm it up.

"I'm sorry." Len said after a minute. "I didn't even think about how cold the gun gets after it gets fired. Hell, I don't even  _notice_ it anymore because I have these." Len gestured to his own gloved hands.

"I-it's okay." Wally said. "It was my fault. I was being stupid."

Len frowned. "You didn't even know about it.  _I_ did. It's my gun, which makes it my responsibility." Len was quiet for a moment. "Why were you saying that it was your fault?"

Wally tilted his head in slight confusion. "It always is." He said simply.

"Always?" Len's eyes darkened in a scary way. "Just how often have you gotten hurt like this?"

Like this? Never. But Wally had the feeling that Len was wondering how many times he had gotten hurt 'by accident' in general, and that was a question that Wally couldn't answer.

The boy was spared from having to come up with an excuse when something that looked like a walkie talkie on the man's belt made a funny noise and a rough voice came through. "Hey, boss, we got some trouble over here."

Len swore under his breath again. "You would think that three guys would be able to handle one upstart on their own." He sighed in irritation and picked up his cold gun. "Well, you know what they say. If you want something done right," Len got to his feet and turned towards the museum. He fired some ice at the police cars and officers lingering outside. "You gotta do it yourself."

"What are you doing?" Wally stared with wide eyes at the wall of ice in front of the museum. He hadn't realized how strong the gun could be. "Are they going to be okay?"

"They'll be fine." Len shrugged. "Just as long as nobody shatters them. The ice'll melt in a few minutes, which is just enough time to get in and out of there."

"But what about The Flash?" Wally asked before Len could go. The man paused and looked and Wally thoughtfully.

"You know, kid, you got a point. The hero won't really be all that eager about letting us walk right out of there, unless…" Len looked at Wally, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Hey, Wally, how would you feel about being a part time Rogue?"

"A what?" Wally frowned.

"A Rogue." Len repeated. "All you would have to do is play a little game of pretend for me." Len knelt down again so he was eyelevel with Wally. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but it would really help me out here."

"...What would I have to do?" Wally asked cautiously.

"Absolutely nothing." Len said. "It would just be a pretend hostage situation."

"So you'll threaten to hurt me if Flash doesn't let you go?" Wally frowned. That didn't sound very fun.

"He'll only  _think_ that I would hurt you." Len said. "The two of us though will know that I won't.  _We'll_ know that it's just pretend."

"So, you won't hurt me no matter what?" Wally asked.

"No matter what." Len swore. "I've got this thing about not hurting children."

Wally wasn't exactly sure what he was thinking, but he believed Len. The man was super nice, and Wally really did believe that he wouldn't do anything to hurt him. And maybe it was wrong to even think about helping the bad guys, but Len  _did_ say that this was all a game to him, and they were just playing pretend.

And maybe it was bad of him to think this way, but Wally  _really_ wanted to be a part of this fight between a hero and villains. What seven year old  _wouldn't_ want to be a part of the action?

"...Okay." Wally grinned. "I can do that."

"You sure?" Len raised an eyebrow. Wally nodded and Len smirked. "Great. Let's go." Len put on his glasses again. "Alright, Wally, I'm going to be holding you with your hand behind your back. If things get too intense, just squeeze my hand and I'll tone it down."

"I will if I need to." Wally said. "But I'll be fine."

"You've got guts, kid." Len smirked. "I like that." Len led Wally across the street and into the museum. When they got into the museum Len got a firm but gentle grip on Wally's arms. He held him in such a way that it would  _look_  like he was in danger, but Wally knew that he wasn't. Actually, he felt reassured by Len's firm grip. It felt like if there was any real danger, Len would pull him right out of harm's way.

Wally heard a lot of sounds of fighting going on in the next room, and he found himself getting a little nervous. He felt Len give a slight squeeze to his hand.

"Take a deep breath, kid." Len whispered into his ear. "You'll do fine. Just follow my lead." Wally nodded, closed his eyes, and just let Len do his thing. The man knew what he was doing, Wally just had to trust him. The boy took in a deep breath and nodded. He was ready.

Len took him into the next room and Wally found himself in a world of chaos. All he could see was a streak of lightning, lots of fire, a couple of boomerangs flying around and, weirdly enough, some powerful gusts of wind. It was just crazy to see.

Len fired his gun on the floor in front of the streak of lightning, causing it to trip. Wally's eyes widened when he saw that. He hadn't really known that the streak was a person? How could somebody go so fast?

The lightning man who was wearing a red spandex suit quickly got back on his feet. "Cold, I should have known that you would show up eventually. What took you so…" The Flash (Wally was sure that was who the lightning bolt man was. It was the only thing that made sense) trailed off when he saw Wally. The hero's eyes widened. "Cold, what the heck are you doing?!" Oh, he actually sounded really freaked out. Wally knew that the plan was to get the Flash to believe he was in danger, but why did he sound so worried and yet hadn't done anything to 'save' Wally yet?

Wally heard a low 'whir'ing sound and felt a slight chill. He looked slightly to the right and found himself face to barrel with Len's cold gun. Oh.  _That_ was why the Flash was worried.

"Just let us walk out of here, Flash, and nothing will happen to the kid." Len said. The Flash glared at Len so hatefully that the look sent shivers down Wally's spine. He really did  _not_ want to be on this heroes bad side. After a moment though The Flash's expression changed to a look of cockiness.

"You had me there for a minute, Cold, but I caught your bluff." The Flash said. "No matter how desperate you are, you would never hurt a kid."

"True." Len agreed, and even though Wally wasn't looking at his face he could hear that he was smirking. "But I had something else in mind for the kid."

"What are you talking about?" The Flash raised his voice slightly. Wally subconsciously leaned closer to Len, because Flash was really scaring him. Len gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, though he didn't turn away from the hero.

"Alright, here's the deal, Scarlet," Len said. "Either you let us walk out of here, or the kid is coming with us."

...What? Wally turned and looked at Len with wide eyes. This hadn't been part of the plan.

"How can you expect to take him if all of you are in prison and he's out of your reach?" Flash asked, which Wally thought was a very good point.

"You know that no prison can keep me in." Len said confidently. "And when I get out…"

"You wouldn't." Flash glared at Len darkly.

"You're really willing to bet on that?" Len raised an eyebrow back at the hero.

"Even  _you_ wouldn't take a kid away from his family." Flash challenged.

"Oh, really?" Len's tone lowered and he sounded pretty angry. "So you expect me to be just fine with leaving this kid with a father who just  _left_  him by himself to wait for an uncle who  _forgot_ about him?"

"That's  _not_ what happened!" Flash said defensively, though Wally didn't know why. How would the hero know what the situation was, and why was he getting so upset about it?

"Really? Because I think it was." Len said. "Unless you think you can prove otherwise."

Flash sighed. "What do you want from me, Cold?" The hero sounded tired of the conversation. Wally was just confused by it. He wondered when this negotiation about letting the villains get away became apart  _him_.

"Like I said, let us go, no questions asked." Len said. "Unless, of course, you think that arresting a couple of harmless criminals is more important than being absolutely certain of the safety of a child?" Len raised a challenging eyebrow at Flash. "Then again, maybe I'm asking too much from you. I mean, it's not like you  _know_ this kid or have  _any_ responsibility over him."

The Flash was absolutely seething at those words. Wally didn't know how Len was keeping his cool so well, because he would  _never_  be able to act so normal when somebody was so obviously angry at him. Wally began to wonder if he was missing something between Len and Flash right now, because there  _definitely_ seemed to be more going on here than he was aware of.

"And how do you know I won't arrest you guys the second I let you go?" Flash asked.

"Because you'll be too busy finding the kid's uncle and making sure he doesn't let him out of his sights again." Len said. Wally's eyes widened. This negotiation was  _definitely_ about him...for some reason.

Flash sighed. "Look, just let the kid go. We both know that your boys left while I was distracted. You won."

"Oh, don't sound so disappointed, Flash." Len was the one who sounded disappointed, as though the hero was just being a sore loser in a game they were playing. "It doesn't suit you." Still, Len let go of Wally's arms and gave him a small and gentle shove towards the hero. Wally stumbled forward a few feet and then stopped halfway between the two men. Feeling unsure, the boy looked from one man to the other as he tried to decide where he was supposed to go. He guess that he  _should_ go to Flash, because he was the good guy, but...honestly, the hero still seemed kinda angry and he just scared Wally a little bit.

The boy honestly felt like just going back to Len, but the man was already leaving. Wally turned back towards the Flash but he only saw him for about a second before the hero ran off, leaving a streak of lightning behind him.

Wally was alone... _again._

"O-one." The boy muttered to himself, because he couldn't allow himself to think about whether or not he had been abandoned. "Two. T-three…"

Wally got to the count of seventy two before he heard his name being called out by a friendly and familiar voice. " _Wally!"_ The boy looked up just in time to see his Uncle Barry running across the room. Wally barely had any time to think before his uncle had him wrapped up in a  _very_ tight embrace.

"I'm sorry." Barry muttered as he held Wally as though he would never let him go. "I'm so  _so_ sorry. I just forgot, and…"

"I-it's okay." Wally leaned against his uncle and sniffled a little bit. He was slightly hurt that his uncle had forgotten about him in the first place, but he didn't want to think about that right then. He didn't want to think about how his uncle had found him so quickly right then. He didn't want to think about anything like that.

"Can we just go home now?" Wally asked in a quiet tone.

"Yeah." Uncle Barry ruffled his hair. "Yeah, we can do that." There wasn't much more talking between the two of them. The uncle and nephew just walked out of the museum together. They didn't head straight home though. Barry stopped right outside the building to help get the cops out of their state of semi-frozenness. Wally didn't mind though. He had honestly been a little worried about the cops himself, because, as he learned a short time ago, really cold ice could be  _really_ painful.

Wally sat down on the front steps of the museum as he waited for Barry to finish, because his uncle wouldn't let him anywhere near the ice. After sitting around for a few minutes Wally caught the sight of something shining across the street. Curious the boy told his uncle what he was doing and went across the street to check it out.

Wally found the source of the shining by the tree he had been waiting under earlier. It was the ice flower, except it had been picked and was lying on the ground instead of standing upright with it's roots under the earth. It also looked like it had a fresh coat of ice on it, thicker than the thin layer of frost that Wally had covered it in earlier. There was a small note next to the flower.

' _Thanks for the help, kid. Couldn't have done it without you.'_

On the back of the note there was another message.

' _Once a Rogue, always a Rogue.'_

Wally grinned and pocketed the note. He carefully picked up the flower, marveling at the little details. It was very pretty, and he definitely planned on keeping it...as soon as he could figure out how to stop it from melting. In the meantime though he knew that he could keep it in Aunt Iris' freezer. He was sure that she wouldn't mind, and if she did then he would find another way, because Wally intended on keeping this flower. Len had left it for him, and bad guy or not, Wally thought that Len was a pretty cool guy. The young boy wondered if he would ever see Len again.

Wally also wondered how upset his uncle would be if he decided he wanted to join The Rogues someday...maybe that was a question that he should save for a later time.


	2. Chapter 2

Wally had very mixed feelings about the winter.

On the one hand, the season was just so beautiful and amazing. Even if it didn't really snow all that much where he lived, they got more ice, Wally still thought that the winter weather was pretty. He could spend hours on end just sitting by the window in his room and watching the snow fall, a mug of hot chocolate at his side. There were also the days where school was cancelled because the roads were iced over and Wally could spend the entire day playing outside with his friends. Those were some good times.

On the other hand...it was so cold.

Usually Wally didn't mind the cold so much. It wasn't all that hard to put on another coat or jacket to warm up, and it always felt so nice to feel all cozy and warm in bed when it was cold outside. However, when he was walking down the street while the winter wind was hitting him harshly, making his ears feel like they were about to fall off, Wally definitely had less of an appreciation for the cold.

But if it meant that he wouldn't have to be at home tonight, Wally would bare through the weather. He was just glad that it wasn't snowing or raining.

It was just cold.

Wally shoved his ungloved hands into his pockets and ducked his head. He wished he had thought to grab a coat with a hood, or even a hat, but he had been in such a hurry to get out of the house that he had barely thought to throw on his jacket.

Wally tried to tell himself that he wasn't all that cold. That he was almost there and wouldn't have to be outside for much longer, but he really didn't buy his own lies. How could he when his nose was so cold Wally was sure it was going to be permanently red, and he had only walked about twenty blocks and he was still nowhere  _close_ to his destination.

Wally had never realized just how far Central City was from Keystone City. It seemed like such a short distance...in the car...in the middle of summer…

...Wally got the feeling that this was going to be a  _long_ night.

He just hoped that he still had feeling in his toes, fingers, and face by the time he was done.

( _And that Uncle Barry or Aunt Iris would be home. If they weren't…)_

Wally shook those thoughts out of his head. If he started thinking that way  _now_ then he'll probably just psych himself out and run back home where at least he  _knew_ the way things were. He didn't like it,  _at all_ , but it was what he was familiar with, and Wally was a firm believer that knowledge, even bad knowledge, was better than uncertainty.

Tonight though, Wally was willing to try  _anything_  to get away from the house for a bit, even if it meant giving up what little control he had and walking into uncertainty. He just couldn't handle being at home. Not now.

Wally kept his head low as he walked. It was the only thing he could do to protect himself from the cold. It made it harder to see things, but Wally thought that if he just kept his eyes on the sidewalk and walked right next to the buildings then he wouldn't accidentally run into the streets and get hit by a car or something. As for running into pedestrians, well, with how cold and late it was somebody would have to be crazy to even be out on the streets.

Not five seconds after Wally had thought that he found himself walking straight into somebody else who was on the streets. It probably wouldn't have been that big of a deal, except the sidewalks were icy and Wally found himself starting to lose his balance. Instinctively Wally grabbed at the person he had bumped into to regain his balance, which only resulted in them both slipping on the ice and falling.

"Ow." Wally groaned. He had hit his elbow pretty hard on the ground, and  _man_ did it hurt!

"Ya can say tha' again." The man Wally had run into winced. "What the hell's your hurry, kid?"

"Oh come on, Digger, cut the kid some slack." Another voice cut in, one that sounded like they were almost laughing. "He wasn't going all that fast.  _You_ just weren't watching where you were going."

"Yeah, well, neither was he." Digger grumbled under his breath. He pushed himself up to his feet and scowled. Digger's companion just shook his head and held a hand out to Wally, who was taken aback when he realized that he recognized him.

"Len?" Wally really hadn't thought that he would ever actually run into the man again after their first meeting a few months before. The only reason Wally recognized him so quickly was because he watched Captain Cold fighting The Flash all the time on the television.

Len frowned slightly in confusion for a moment before his eyes lit up in realization. "Wait a second, you're that kid from the museum, right? Allen's kid?"

"Nephew." Wally corrected, because he was all too aware that he wasn't Uncle Barry's son, even sometimes he wished that he was.

"Right, nephew." Len took Wally's hand and helped him to his feet. "It's Wally, right?" The kid nodded. "What are you doing out here this time of night? And by yourself. Are you ever  _not_ by yourself?"

Wally wasn't sure how to answer that last question, because even though he knew that he wasn't  _always_  on his own, it did happen a lot. More often than he was sure was normal for eight year olds.

The first question though was easy...for the most part. "I'm trying to get to Barry and Iris' house."

Len furrowed his brow in confusion. "You're  _walking_ all the way to Central?"

"I-It's not that far." Wally said semi-confidently.

"Maybe not in a car." Len scoffed. "Look, you can't just walk from here to there. Especially not at night, and  _especially_ not in the middle of winter when you're not even wearing a coat. You look like you're turning into a popsicle."

"I  _feel_ like a popsicle." Wally said. Len frowned at his response.

"What's so important about you getting to your uncle's place?" Len asked.

"I-I just…" Wally trailed off and looked at the ground as he tried to think of what to say. "I just don't want to be home right now."

"Really?" Len's tone was dark and angry. Wally shivered slightly just hearing it. "Any reason why?"

"God, Len, stop interrogating the kid." Digger interrupted irritably. "He's about to freeze to death."

Len sighed. "Fine." He said in a tone that made it clear that he wasn't dropping the subject, just putting it on hold for now. "Come on, Wally, we got a place nearby, you can stay there tonight if you really want to."

"R-really?" Wally lifted his gaze away from the ground and actually looked at Len with wide eyes.

"Yeah, really." Len shrugged off his own coat and draped it around Wally's shoulders. Len and Digger led the way to what they called their 'safe-house'. As they walked Wally wondered if this was really a good idea. He  _knew_ that Len, and probably Digger too, were bad guys. They stole from people, and sometimes even hurt them. They fought against the Flash (who Wally had really come to admire these past few months. The hero was just so awesome, and Uncle Barry always had so many cool stories about him).

But the thing was, Wally still wasn't entirely convinced that The Rogues (Flash's villains) were entirely evil. They definitely weren't good guys, but whenever Wally watched them on the news he noticed that they usually went out of their way to avoid hurting people, especially women or children.

Len just seemed so nice, and Wally didn't understand how somebody that was nice could be evil. So, in the boy's mind, he couldn't be.

It took about ten minutes for them to get to the 'safe-house', and by the time they got there Wally was already starting to feel warmer. Len's coat just felt ridiculously toasty. If Wally wasn't on his feet, he would probably end up falling asleep within seconds. Entering the house felt like an explosion of warmth to his face.

Digger laughed and ruffled Wally's hair. "Yer face about matches your hair, kid."

Len rolled his eyes and walked further into the house. "Hey, Mick," He shouted. "You got any hot chocolate ready?"

A grumpy looking man stuck his head out the kitchen door. "You're back early." He saw Wally and his eyes widened in surprise. "And you got a kid with you?"

"Wally just needed a place to sleep for the night." Len put his hand on Wally's shoulder. "Though I'm not entirely sure why."

Wally squirmed slightly. He knew that Len was looking for some answers, and he wasn't going to accept 'no' as one of them. Wally hadn't been able to come up with a good excuse, but he figured it would be okay to just tell the partial truth.

"My dad was just drinking a lot." Wally said. "I don't...I just don't like it when he drinks." He looked Len in the eyes when he said this, because he knew that people tended to believe things more if they were making eye contact. Unfortunately since Wally was looking straight at Len he could see the exact moment when the man's eyes darkened dangerously with an unexplainable fury.

"Your dad drink often?" Len asked. His tone was cold and firm, and Wally could tell that he was trying very hard to not completely lose it.

"Um, sometimes?" Wally was starting to feel uncomfortable with how angry Len looked. He wondered if he had said too much. The boy was spared from having to stress about Len's sudden change in attitude when that Mick guy came in from the kitchen and handed him a warm mug of hot chocolate.

"The couch is free." The man growled roughly, though he didn't seem threatening.

"Okay." Wally slowly backed away from the adults as he made his way towards their living room. Len's anger was making him  _very_ nervous. "I'll just, uh, be in here." He quickly retreated into the living room. He didn't necessarily feel scared of these guys, just a little uneasy.

The second that Wally was out of the main hallway he could hear hushed tones from the adults. Their voices were quiet, but he could still make out what most of what they were saying.

"You're being paranoid, Leonard," Mick's voice came through crystal clear. Wally wondered if maybe he didn't really know how to whisper, just how to growl.

"I know." Len said.

"And not all drunks are like  _that."_ Digger cut in defensively.

"I know." Len said in a slightly louder voice.

"So stop acting like this. We don't know that anything is going on with the kid, and even if we did, there wouldn't be anything we could do about it." Digger pointed out

"I know!" Len whisper shouted. "Alright, I get it, I'm just paranoid and crazy and letting my emotions get the best of me, right?"

"Stop acting like we're bullying you about this." Mick sounded tired. "Look, you have issues with stuff likes this, we get it, but you gotta stop trying to involve yourself whenever this shit happens. You can't fix everything."

"I can't just sit back and do nothing if something's wrong." Len said. "Far too many people already do that, and I won't be one of them." Len sighed. "But fine, I'll back off."

There was silence for a moment. "Really?" Digger asked.

"Of course." Len scoffed. "I have a feeling that something's wrong, but I admit that I could be wrong. Until I know for sure, I'll back off...but I'm going to be keeping a close eye on this kid."

Wally wasn't entirely sure what they were talking about, besides him, but he had the feeling that he would be seeing Len around more often. A part of him was nervous, because he didn't know what Len wanted with him, and the man was kinda scary. The rest of him though was actually excited about the idea of seeing Len more. The man was nice, and he sounded concerned about Wally.

And his coat was  _super_ warm.

Wally yawned and wrapped the coat around himself. He hadn't realized before just how tired he was. Wally barely bothered to take his shoes and socks off, only because his feet were starting to hurt, before he collapsed onto the couch. It wasn't extraordinarily comfortable, it was just a couch, after all, but Len's coat was so soft and warm that all Wally had to do was snuggle up into it and he was set.

Wally soon started to nod off. He was half asleep when he heard somebody enter the room. There was a slight 'wsh'ing sound and soon after Wally felt a heavy blanket being draped over him. Wally, who had been curled up into a tight ball so his whole body could be in the warmth of the coat, relaxed slightly at the additional warmth and comfort. It felt nice.

"I don't know exactly what's going on with you and your dad, Wally." Len's voice said, though it kinda sounded like he was talking to himself. "But I  _will_ find out what it is." It didn't sound like a threat of something like that from a creeper, it sounded more like a promise from a friend.

...A friend. Wally didn't have very many of those. It felt pretty nice though. Wally smiled slightly to himself as he began to truly fall asleep. His last conscious thought was;

' _Uncle Barry would probably freak out if he knew that I was friends with Captain Cold.'_


	3. Chapter 3

It was a surprisingly quiet day at the Rogue's safe house in Keystone City. Half of them had broken out of prison just the week before, and the other half had fought (and escaped from) the Flash in the past few days. None of them had any new major schemes to plot. It was just a quiet day of taking it easy, and Leonard Snart was planning on taking advantage of it.

_*Ring* *Ring*._

Len groaned when he heard the telephone ring.  _Of course_  they couldn't just get a free day.

"I'll get it!" A loud, young voice of a teenager said quickly. Len smirked slightly to himself as their latest member, James Jesse, The Trickster, rushed to answer the phone. This was one of the perks of bringing some new kids onto the team.  _They_ could do the menial tasks like answering the phone and doing the laundry.

"Hello?" James asked with a grin. Len couldn't help but wonder who it was. Other than the Rogues themselves, he hadn't thought that anybody had this number. James' broad grin shrank slightly in confusion as he listened to the person on the other end. "You're what?" There was a little more talking. "And  _who_ are you looking for?" James listened for another moment before pulling the phone away from his ear and covering the receiver. James turned towards Len. "Uh, boss, I think it's for you?"

Len sighed and pushed himself to his feet. He had just started to get comfortable. "Who is it?" He asked.

"Keystone Elementary." James wrinkled his nose slightly. "They say that they're looking for a  _Leonardo Snow._  Is that one of your aliases?"

"I don't think so." Len frowned. He took the phone anyways, because of all of the people in safe house, he was the one most likely to be called  _Leonardo Snow_. He did wonder how Keystone Elementary got their phone number though, because very,  _very_ few people knew it. Len took the phone and tried to ignore everybody else watching him. Hartley had even turned down his music, which was  _always_ cranked up to max volume (honestly, Len knew that that kid was excited to hear all these new sounds, but if he didn't tone things down a bit he would end up going deaf all over again.

"Hello?" Len said into the phone.

"Hello. Is this Leonardo Snow?" The woman on the other line asked.

"Who wants to know?" Len neither confirmed nor denied it, because while he didn't  _think_ he was, for all he knew he very well could be.

"This is Elisa Wood. I'm the nurse at Keystone Elementary." The woman said. "I'm calling because your nephew, Wallace West, is feeling ill and we need you to come pick him up."

Len hadn't known what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't  _that_. Since when was he Wally's uncle? And why was he on the kid's contact list for school. Len would think that it was a mistake, except the woman had asked for Leonardo Snow, and that really couldn't be anybody else. Wally was a smart kid, but he was still just a kid. Len wouldn't be surprised to learn that he had come up with a name like Leonardo Snow, which was different enough from Len's actual name that an ordinary person wouldn't catch it, but similar enough that a child  _had_ to have been the one to think of it.

Len was just fine with Wally coming up with random aliases for him, he just wanted to know why. What the hell was the kid thinking?

"Yeah, I'll come get him." Len said, because if Wally really was sick, then he couldn't just leave the kid hanging. The lady thanked him and hung up, which Len thought was kind of rude, but it wasn't as though he was going to lecture her about it. Len put the phone up and turned to face his Rogues, who all looked even more confused than he felt.

"What's going on?" Sam was the first person to voice the question on everybody's mind.

Len sighed and grabbed the car keys from beside the door and tossed them to Mick, who caught them easily. Len didn't do driving, so whenever he needed to get anywhere not by motorcycle, Mick was his driver. And in exchange, whenever Mick did this Len would allow him to have a bonfire...just so long as it didn't get  _too_ out of hand. "Wally's sick, and apparently they want  _me_ to come get him."

"...Why would they want that?" Digger asked.

"I don't know." Len said honestly. "But something tells me that Wally is behind this." Of course it was Wally. Who else would it be?

The car drive to the elementary school was pretty much silent, except when Len gave directions. Their safehouse may be in Keystone, but Mick was definitely not familiar with the city. He knew Central City like the back of his hand, and he had memorized pretty much every single back road just outside the city, but the second they crossed into Keystone he was completely lost.

Even with Mick's hopeless navigation skills, it didn't take all that long to find the school. Mick parked in one of the available 'visitor's parking' spots and he and Len got out and entered the school. After quickly checking in with the main office to learn where the nurse's office was, Mick and Len went to go find Wally.

The nurse's office was empty, except for the small ten year old redhead lying on the bed thing in the corner of the room. The kid was pale and his breath was shallow. Wally winced in pain with every breath he took, and Len immediately knew that this wasn't some ordinary sickness.

"Hey, kid." Len sat down on a chair near the bed. "How're you feeling?"

"Lousy." Wally opened his eyes lazily and it took him a few moments to focus completely on Len. "Oh, it's you." The kid smiled. He looked relieved about something.

"Yep, it's me." Len said. "Do you have any idea why your school would call me instead of your uncle or parents?"

"Um, I  _might_ have hacked into the school's system and put you in as my contact." Wally said half mischievously and half sheepishly.

Mick laughed from where he was standing in the corner of the room. "He's been spending too much time around you, Leonard." He said with a low chuckle.

"Why would you do that?" Len asked slowly. Wally frowned and closed his eyes. "Kid, you're not really sick, are you?" Wally bit his lip and shook his head. Len sighed. "Alright. So what's wrong with you?"

Wally was quiet for a minute. "My head hurts." Wally eventually said in a quiet voice. "I feel like I'm going to be sick, and my chest hurts really badly."

"Kinda sounds like he's sick to me." Mick shrugged. Len frowned and narrowed his eyes, because he wasn't convinced.

Len leaned in closer to Wally and, as gently as he could, put a hand against Wally's chest. The kid immediately flinched and whimpered in pain. Len frowned and pushed ever so slightly on the kid's chest, which caused Wally to cry out in pain.

"Shit." Mick approached the two of them and pulled Len away from Wally. "Boss, what the hell are you doing?" Len didn't answer his teammate. He narrowed his eyes and eyed Wally suspiciously.

"Have you been coughing, kid?" Len asked. Wally shook his head and then groaned. Apparently head movement didn't work very well with his headache.

"No." Wally moaned. Len frowned at the answer. He had been worried about that.

"Have you ever felt like this before?" Len asked. Wally leaned his head to the side and refused to look at Len.

"...Can we just go home?" The kid asked, and he just sounded so upset and in pain that it was a little heartbreaking. Len wanted to figure out exactly  _why_ the kid was in so much pain, but he knew that now really wouldn't be a very good time to interrogate Wally. At that moment the kid just needed a place where he could rest, heal up, and feel safe.

"Yeah, we can go home now." Len took Wally's arm and carefully helped him to sit up in such a way that wouldn't irritate his ribs too much. "Come on, Wally." Len encouraged when the kid whimpered in pain again. "These things hurt like hell, but you can't just stay here. You'll be more comfortable at the safe house. And you know that James will be excited to see you."

Wally managed a small grin at that. James was a good five years older than Wally, and he absolutely adored the kid. James just thought that Wally was adorable, and he wasn't afraid to show it. And Wally liked James well enough, and he definitely understood the childish teenager better than any of the Rogues ever could.

It took a bit of time, but Mick and Len were eventually able to get Wally moving in a way that didn't cause him intense pain with every step he took. Len left the kid to Mick and went to go sign the kid out at the office. He was still wondering why Wally had wanted  _him_ as a contact in the first place, though he had a fairly good idea. But he had promised himself that he wouldn't bug the kid that day about it, so it would just have to wait for some other time.

Mick is once again the one who is driving, but Len doesn't sit in the passenger's seat this time around. Instead Len sits in the back next to Wally to try to keep the kid comfortable and relatively pain free.

The ride back to the safehouse took even longer than the ride to the elementary school, because Len was so preoccupied with keeping an eye on Wally that he wasn't well enough attention to the streets to give Mick instructions. They eventually made it back though, and after just a few minutes Len was helping Wally settle in on the couch. The other Rogues all just watched, playing the part of a peanut gallery, which they did annoyingly well.

"Sam, can you get me a flashlight and some water?" Len asked, because if they were going to be watching then they might as well be useful. "Hartley, we need some ice in here." The two of them went to go get the things that Len had requested. The rest of the Rogues lingered around, thankfully though they kept their distance. Even James stayed away, though it was clear that he was fighting very hard to not run forward and hug Wally protectively.

Sam soon came back with the flashlight and water and handed them to Len. He put the water on the coffee table next to the couch. Len turned the flashlight on and shined the light in Wally's eyes, one at a time. This just confirmed what Len had first thought.

"You've got a concussion." Len said. "This explains the headache, nausea, your dizziness and why you're so unfocused."

"How did you know I was dizzy and unfocused?" Wally asked.

"You almost fell over about five times when we were walking, and it takes you longer than average to actually  _see_ what you're looking at." Len said.

"Oh." Wally frowned sheepishly. Len reached into his pocket and brought out the pain reliever that he always carried in his pocket. It was a habit that he had picked up as a teenager.

"Here, kid." Len said as he handed the pills to Wally. "There's not much to do for these injuries except to wait it out." Wally grimaced and took the pills with the water that Sam had brought out earlier. Wally didn't struggle with swallowing the pills, which was something that James still had a hard time with. Len could tell that Wally was completely used to taking pills, more than the average kid was.

Hartley came back a moment later with an ice pack. He handed it to Len, who wrapped it in a thin blanket and laid it very gently on Wally's chest. The kid winced at the pain, but he bore with it.

"The meds should kick in soon." Len said. "Until then, just keep breathing. Deep breaths, and make sure you cough if you need to. I know it hurts, but you have to do it, alright?" Wally nodded. "Alright. Me and the guys are going to go talk about some things now, but Hartley and James will stay here, and I'm sure they're going to talk your ears off about  _something_." That was something that Len knew that the teenagers would do without any prompting whatsoever.

Len gestured for the other Rogues to join him in the kitchen. Sam looked concerned. Mark seemed wary of the upcoming conversation. Digger and Mick both looked annoyed  _and_ concerned, because they knew what Len was going to be talking to them about. They  _all_ knew.

"Leonard, don't go diving into situations that you don't understand." Mick warned before Len could even say anything.

"Look, mate, the kid might've just been hit in the head with a basketball." Digger pointed out. Len crossed his arms and glared at them.

"Then wouldn't the teachers have at least been able to guess that he had a concussion?" Len asked, and none of his teammates had an answer for him. "And what about the fractured ribs?" This made all of them stop.

"Wait, what fractured ribs?" Sam asked.

"How the hell could those idiots at the school not realize that he has fractured ribs  _and_ a concussion?" Mark asked in a loud, angry voice, and yeah, Len was feeling pretty pissed off about the lack of care that the school offered.

"His symptoms might've been seen as just a cold." Len said, though it was a pathetic excuse.

"I got a question for you." Mick said. "If he wasn't hurt at school," And they were all fairly certain that he hadn't been. "Then what was he doing  _going_ to school in the first place?"

"Wally  _loves_ school." Len reminded them. The men had all lost count of the number of times that Wally had come over to their place after school and excitedly repeated everything that he had learned. "He would probably want to miss as little as possible, even if he's hurt. And...And going to school would give him a perfectly legitimate excuse to get out of the house."

"...Len, do you really think that his old man is hurting him?" Mick asked. It was a theory that Len had had since his first interaction with the boy. It was why Len had made it clear that the kid was more than welcome at their place, because if Wally didn't have anywhere else where he felt safe, then Len would make damn sure that they could provide it.

"I do." Len said seriously, and for the first time since he had shared his theory the others actually looked convinced of it as well. "If he wasn't, why would Wally change his emergency contact for school? Wouldn't his parents or even his aunt or uncle be a better option?" The others nodded. "But if his  _dad's_ the one hurting him, and Wally doesn't want his other relatives to know-"

"Then he wouldn't want any of them to get him." Digger finished. None of them bothered to wonder what Wally would do if he needed to go because of an  _actual_ sickness, because they knew that the kid had an immune system of steel. There had been one or two times when he had come over to their safehouse and one of them was sick. And with five men, two teenagers, and occasionally one woman all living in the same house together, and none of them had the greatest of hygienic habits, when one of them got sick, it spread like a forest fire.

To their knowledge though, Wally hadn't ever gotten sick. Not even when James had come down with the flu and Wally had been the only one who had dared to come near him, he hadn't even gotten so much as a cough.

No, Wally West did not get sick easily, and he probably knew it. So the kid probably knew that if he was going to have to leave school, it would be because of injury, not illness. And clearly the kid would rather have Len be the one to get him, because he didn't want anybody else, especially not his Uncle Barry, to know that he was hurt.

It was a smart plan. It reminded Len of when he had changed the contact information at  _his_ school so that his grandfather was called, not his father. Although for Len the reason had been because he caught the common cold quite easily (and no, he did not miss the irony about that) and he had definitely prefered to be around his grandfather when he was sick. Len had barely been able to stand being around his father when he felt perfectly healthy. It would have been hell to be near him when he was already in a weakened state.

"So, what do you want us to do about this?" Mick asked. "We still don't have proof, and god knows the kid ain't gonna tell us anything."

Len hated it, but he knew that Mick had a point. They were as stuck now as they had been two years before. They knew that something wrong was going on in the West's house, but there wasn't a lot they could do about it, short of  _disposing_  of the kid's father. Len wouldn't hesitate to do as much. Hell, it was what he had done to his own father, but he was pretty sure that Wally wouldn't be too happy with him.

So, at least for now, all they could do was wait and do their best to keep the kid alive and offer support.  _If_ the kid ever needed help beyond that, well, The Rogues would be there to offer it, because Wally had pretty much become one of them, and Rogues looked out for one another.

Len thought that it was a sad day indeed when the only people a ten year old felt he could turn to were a bunch of criminals.


	4. Chapter 4

Wally was vibrating with excitement, and that wasn't an exaggeration. He wasn't so excited that he  _could_ be vibrating. He was  _really_ vibrating, because he had super speed.  _Super speed!_

Wally West had freaking powers!

He could still hardly believe it. He had had his powers for nearly two weeks, and it still felt like a dream...a very,  _very_ long dream, but a dream nonetheless. After all, how many twelve year old boys learned that their uncle was the Flash ( _The Flash!)_  and then figured out how to give themselves the very same powers?

Wally thought that it was safe to say that he was the first, and it felt absolutely incredible, and amazing, and  _ohmygoshI'masuperherothisissocool-_

' _Calm down, Wally'_  The kid took a deep breath. ' _Uncle Barry won't let you do this if he doesn't think you can control your powers._

"Alright, kid, this is it." Barry ( _Flash._ He was Flash when they were in their suits) said. Wally, who reminded himself that he went by the name Kid Flash when they were out doing this, looked up at his uncle/mentor. "You sure you're ready for this?"

"Iwasbornready!" Wally exclaimed quickly. Ba-Flash chuckled and ruffled Wally's hair. The boy scowled and ducked away from his uncle. He  _hated_ it when he did that. It always made Wally feel like such a little kid. He wasn't a kid though, he was a superhero, and kids weren't superheroes.

"Alright, so, recap," Ba-Flash said. "Who are we up against today?"

"Fourrogues." Wally said. "Le-Captain Cold, Ja-Trickster, Har-Pied Piper, and Mi-Heat Wave." Geeze, Wally hadn't realized how hard calling his friends (they weren't friends, it wasn't allowed. Wally was a hero now, he couldn't be friends with criminals) by their rogue names would be. He would have to get used to it though.

"Yep." Ba-Flash nodded. Normally I would have you start with just one of the more nonthreatening Rogues, but Trickster and Pied Piper are still new at this whole thing, and they've never been known to hurt anybody. Cold's supervising them, and even though he's not afraid to hurt people to get what he wants-"

"Hedoesn'thurtkids." Wally knew that. He had known that about Le-Captain Cold since the first day that he had met him.

"Right, but...still try to be careful anyways." Flash said. "Reports say that those three are working separately from Heat Wave. I'll take care of him, and your job is to just distract the others so they don't come in as back up."

"Gotit." Wally said quickly as he bounced on the balls of his feet. He was  _so_ ready to get started. He was just about to run off when Flash put a restraining hand on his arm.

"Remember, you're just supposed to distract them." Flash reminded him sternly. "No engaging in battle. Use your speed to evade any attacks, and if things get to be too much, just call me over the comm link and I'll be over in a flash, okay?"

"Okay." Wally grinned.

"Great." Flash smiled broadly back at him. "First one to take down their baddies has to wash the dishes tonight." Flash challenged before running off to find Heat Wave.

"Oka-hey!" Wally frowned. "Youtoldmenottoengageincontact!" He could hear his uncle laughing over the comm link. Oh, that was just unfair. Wally narrowed his eyes determinedly and ran off in the opposite direction where he knew he would find the other three Rogues. He was a little nervous about facing them, but he was more excited than anything. His uncle trusted him to do this, and Wally didn't want to let him down. Wally worried that if he didn't do a good enough job, then he wouldn't be allowed to be out in the field at all. This was just a trial run, to see if he was really ready.

Two weeks may seem like a short period of time from receiving powers to actual fighting crime with them, but it felt like forever to Wally. The entire first day after he had been struck by lightning he had had to recover. The five days after that Uncle Barry had showed him how to control his new powers, but they only trained for a few hours at a time because Wally's uncle didn't want to push him beyond his limits.

After those few days of just training, which had felt like forever to Wally, Uncle Barry had decided that going out and stopping some real crime would be the best practice for him. They had started small, with simple muggings and a handful of robberies. Wally did that for about a week before Uncle Barry decided that he was ready for the big leagues...which, in Central City, was still considered the small leagues to probably every other superhero in the world, but Wally was too eager to prove himself to care.

It wasn't really all that hard to find Le-Cold and the others. Wally knew just how loud Ja-Trickster and Har-Pied Piper could be. The two of them just loved noise. Within seconds Wally had ran to their location. He was a little confused by what he saw when he got there. Ja-Trickster was throwing around some...teddy bears? They would probably wind up exploding, but still...Teddy bears? Har-Pied Piper was just playing his flute, possibly to keep any bystanders from getting too close, but most likely because he was just bored.

Le-Captain Cold was the first to notice him. The man looked taken aback, but his shock soon wore off. "So, I guess the rumors are true." Le-Captain Cold smirked. "There really is a baby speedster running around."

"A baby Flash?" Ja-Trickster stopped what he was doing and turned to look at him. The teenager's eyes widened so much that Wally thought they were going to pop right out of his head. "Oh my gosh, it's a Baby Flash!" Ja-Trickster looked very excited. "That's adorable, Wa-uh, I mean, Baby Flash." Ja-Trickster changed what he was saying mid word when he saw Le-Captain Cold's scolding glare and Wally's panicked expression.

"Well, kid, you think you have what it takes to run with the big boys?" Le-Captain Cold smirked patronizingly. "Let's see what you've got." He nodded at Trickster and Har-Pied Piper.

"This is going to be fun." Trickster giggled. "I've been wanting a new playmate for awhile now."

Wally grew irritated. "I'mnotaplaymate." He pouted. "I'mheretostopyou."

"...What?" Trickster looked at him, confused. He turned to Captain Cold, who looked just as confused. Har-Pied Piper just looked fascinated. "What did he say?" Trickster asked his companions.

"I have no idea." Captain Cold said slowly. He looked at Wally. "Say something else, Kid."

"Whatdoyouwantmetosay?" Wally asked. There was a pause.

"Yeah,  _that's_ not gonna give me a headache." Captain Cold groaned slightly. "It's annoying enough when it happens to Flash every once and awhile, but constantly?"

"Whatareyoutalkingabout?" Wally asked. There was a moment's pause before Har-Pied Piper spoke.

"What are we talking about?" Har-Pied Piper asked, and Wally nodded, because that was what  _he_ had said. "We're talking about  _that_." Har-Pied Piper gestured to Wally. "You're talking so fast that we can't understand a word you say."

"Well,  _we_  can't understand you." Captain Cold gestured to himself and Trickster. "That little sound obsessed freak over there has listened to so much music with impossible to understand lyrics that he's used to quick talking by now."

"It's still annoying." Har-Pied Piper said. "It's like hearing him speak a different language that I'm barely decent in."

"AmIreallytalkingthatfast?" Wally asked. Captain Cold and Trickster both turned to Har-Pied Piper.

"I think he's asking if he's really talking that fast." Pied Piper translated. All three of them stared at Wally as though he was nuts and simultaneously said, "Yes."

Wally felt his face go red. He hadn't even noticed. Sure, Wally had noticed that since getting his powers the whole world seemed to move in slow motion to him, but he didn't think that that meant that he was speaking so much faster than everybody else. How had he not realized it before?

How come Uncle Barry hadn't said anything.

"Has your... _mentor_ been teaching you how to talk more tangibly?" Captain Cold asked.

"Idon'tthinkhenoticed." Wally said. Once again, Captain Cold and Trickster looked to Pied Piper.

"I think he said that Flash hasn't noticed." Pied Piper said. Wally nodded, and Captain Cold groaned.

"Of course he hasn't." The man muttered to himself. "That guy's probably too excited about this whole situation to stop and  _think_ for a moment about the possible consequences. I mean,  _look at you_ , you've had your powers for, what, two weeks? And you're already facing off against the Rogues? Does Flash know you're here?

"Hesent...me." Wally put a conscious effort to slowing down his speech, and it was  _a lot_ harder than he had thought it would be.

"He  _sent_ you?!" Captain Cold shouted. Wally felt proud of himself that he didn't even flinch at Len's angry tone. He had gotten used to the man's sudden bursts of anger.  _Especially_ when they had something to do with Wally. "Why the  _hell_ would he do that?"

"He's...fighting...Mi-Heat Wave, andhesentmetodistractyouguys." Wally said, and then immediately regretted it, because he knew that the worst possible way to distract somebody was by telling them that they were being distracted.

Pied Piper snickered. "I don't think telling us you're distracting us was part of the plan."  _See? Pied Piper_ had noticed it too!

"A distraction, huh?" Captain Cold smirked. "One brand new superhero against three Rogues hardly seems like a fair test to me." Now that Wally thought about it, it  _was_ weird. "Alright, kid, how about I make you a deal? You let us go, and you get to tell Flash that you chased us off."

Wally frowned slightly. He wasn't so sure about this.

"Tell you what? We won't even go help out Heat Wave." Captain Cold added.

"Like he needs  _our_ help. Mick can take care of himself." Trickster giggled. Both Wally and Captain Cold chose to ignore his slip up of using Heat Wave's real name.

"OrIcouldjustcatchyoumyself." Wally said confidently. His confidence fell when he saw Captain Cold and Trickster look confused again. Had he really been speedtalking again?

Pied Piper was quiet for a moment as he tried to figure out what Wally had said. "...Something about catching us himself." Pied Piper guessed.

"True, you could  _try_ that." Captain Cold said smugly, as though he knew something that Wally didn't that would prevent him from doing just that. "But if you do than I won't be able to help you figure out your little talking problem."

"...What?" Wally had not been expecting that at all. And, if Piper and Trickster's looks of shock were anything to go by, neither had they.

"You heard me, kid." Captain Cold caught them even more by surprise when he took his goggles off so he could look Wally in the eyes. "You need to learn how to talk like a normal person, and if your...mentor hasn't taught you yet, he's not going to."

"Hemight." Wally said in defense of his uncle.

"Yes, he might." Captain Cold agreed, and Wally felt extremely proud that his words had at least been understandable. "But I think we both know that Flash won't be much of a teacher when it comes to stuff like this. He doesn't have the patience."

"Patience?" Wally furrowed his brow in disgust. He  _hated_ waiting for things, now more than ever. Was Captain Cold saying that this would take a long time?

"Think of it as relearning a language." Captain Cold suggested. "This is going to take longer than just an hour or two."

"Howlong?" Wally whined.

"A couple of hours every day for a few weeks." Captain Cold guessed.

"At the very least." Pied Piper added. "And constant practice after that."

Wally groaned. Would he really have to spend as much time learning how to talk slowly (normally) as he had to learn how to control his powers? That just didn't sound fair or right.

"So, kid, you want my help?" Captain Cold held out a hand. Wally considered his options for a moment. He knew that he shouldn't, but he also knew that he needed to be able to blend in with society, and he couldn't do that if he was always talking at lightning speed. And if it was between Cold and Barry, Wally actually did think that the Rogue would be the better choice to teach him something like this.

(Besides, Wally would like the excuse to see The Rogues when they weren't villains and he wasn't a hero. He kinda missed them.)

"Okay." Wally agreed as he shook Captain Cold's hand.

"Good doing business with you, kid." Captain Cold smirked. He turned to Trickster and Piper. "Let's go before he changes his mind or Flash comes around."

"I can't believe that actually worked." Piper muttered under his breath.

"It's definitely not something that Flash would have done." Captain Cold agreed, and Wally felt a surge of panic within him when he heard that. What he right? Had Wally made a mistake in letting them go? But...they hadn't even been doing anything wrong! They weren't even helping out Heat Wave, so they couldn't even be considered as accomplices to whatever he was doing...well, they  _could_ be considered accomplices, and probably  _would_ be if Flash or any of the cops were here.

But they  _shouldn't_ be, and since Wally was the only one around, they weren't. Maybe it wasn't the way that Uncle Barry would have done things, but who said that Wally had to be exactly like his uncle in the first place?

With the three Rogues gone and his uncle still busy Wally went back to Barry's place on his own. Normally he would wait for his uncle to finish up, maybe patrol the city while Barry took care of Heat Wave, except Wally was  _really_ hungry. He needed some food. He was sure that Barry would understand, unless Wally ate all of the cookies before he got home.

Wally wouldn't do that though...unless Aunt Iris had made peanut butter cookies again, because those things were to  _die_ for.

The rest of the day passed by in what felt like an instant. This was probably because Wally had gotten back to his aunt's and uncle's place, eaten five sandwiches, and then conked out on the couch. He hadn't even realized just how exhausted he had been until he finally woke up to see that it was past midnight.

He had been asleep for most than ten hours! That wasn't a nap, that was a night's worth of sleep!

Wally sat up to the unusually quiet house...well, maybe not  _unusual,_  considering it was the middle of the night and his aunt and uncle were probably asleep. It certainly  _felt_ unusual though, because this house always seemed so noisy and chaotic, and it was one of Wally's favorite places in the world.

He was going to be sad when he would have to leave it.

Wally had been staying with his aunt and uncle ever since the incident. Uncle Barry had thought that it would be better for Wally to be nearby while he was getting ahold of his powers, so he had stayed over. He was getting better and better at them though, so there wasn't much of an excuse for him to stay anymore.

He wished there was though.

Wally shook his head and pushed himself to his feet. It wouldn't do him any good to think about that now. He should just enjoy being there while he could...and find some dinner while he was awake, because he was feeling really hungry again.

Wally went into the kitchen and within a few seconds was able to find some left-over lasagne. Wally reheated the food and was grateful for the fact that his Aunt Iris was such an amazing woman and cook. Her food always tasted great, even when it was reheated, and she always made  _a lot_ , so there was always enough for two speedsters and herself.

She was great.

Wally at the lasagne in a record breaking three seconds, and then tried to figure out what he should do now that he was awake. He could patrol the city...except Uncle Barry wouldn't let him go out at night. He could go back to sleep...except he wasn't the least bit tired. He could read a book...no, Wally wasn't  _that_ bored. He thought about watching tv, except he soon realized that he wanted to do something productive, like…

...like learning how to speak slower.

Wally could have hit himself.  _Of course_. He had made a deal with Len just a few hours ago. How could he have forgotten? Wally just hoped that they were awake at this time of night. Oh, who was he kidding?  _Of course_ they were awake. Wally swore that the Rogues never slept. He had seen them early in the morning, in the middle of the afternoon, and in the dead of night. It was like the guys were zombies or something.

And Wally didn't  _think_ that he would have to worry about them being out that night, because Len at least always made sure to lay low and not leave the safehouse for a few days after heist. Wally knew exactly where to find Len, so there really wasn't any reason for him to not go and see if he would hold up his end of their deal.

Wally was pretty sure he would, because criminal or not, Leonard Snart was a man of his word.

With a plan in mind now Wally grabbed his jacket from where he had left it on the floor (Aunt Iris may hate that it always ends up there, but Wally just finds it to be the most convenient spot), and quietly made his way to the front door. He was careful to be as quiet as he could, because he didn't want to wake up his aunt and uncle. They didn't need to know where he was going. It was best to just let them sleep.

Wally slipped outside and casually walked two blocks away to Central City Park, because he was pretty sure that somebody would get suspicious to see a streak of lightning zooming away from the Allen's house. Once he was there and had double checked to make sure he wasn't being watched or followed, Wally dashed off towards Keystone City.

The two cities were right next to each other, but when Wally was younger he had learned that that didn't necessarily mean that they were nearby. He remembered one time when he was younger when he had tried walking from Keystone to Central. It hadn't been a very well thought through plan. Wally had greatly underestimated the distance, and might have frozen to death that night if he hadn't happened to run into Len and Digger.

Wally only really remembered this because he found it a little funny. A few years ago it would have taken him hours to walk from one city to the other. Now he could get there in about thirty seconds without even breaking a sweat.

Super speed was amazing.

Wally quickly got to the Rogue's safehouse. He had always found it weird that all of them could live in one place together without being found by the police. Wally had long since figured out that the police hadn't found them just because they weren't even looking in Keystone City. The Rogues focused mostly on Central, so most people just assumed that that was where they all lived.

Wally stopped in front of the door and knocked on it. A few years ago he had been extremely nervous about knocking on their door, and now he didn't even hesitate. Wally tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the door to open. After what felt like a couple of minutes, though he knew it had only been a few seconds, the door was opened by none other than Leonard Snart himself.

"Wally, I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up." Len smirked slyly. He opened the door wider to let Wally in. "Your uncle doesn't know you're here, does he?"

"Nopehe'sasleep." Wally said.

"...I think I heard a 'no' in there, which means that we're set." Len closed and locked the door. "Follow me." Len led Wally down the hallway towards the area of the safehouse that the boy rarely ever went. All of their bedrooms were down this hallway. Wally had only been in James and Hartley's rooms before, though he had caught glimpses of most of the others.

Wally was actually pretty sure that the only room he hadn't seen any part of at all was Len's room, which just happened to be where they were headed. Wally wondered what the room would look like. James' was filled with toys and different inventions that he was working on. Hartley's had the most impressive music collection that Wally had ever seen. Lisa's had a shelf of skating trophies. Sam's room resembled a funhouse, which always made Wally's head spin whenever he saw it. Mick...well, Wally hadn't really  _seen_ Mick's room, but he had heard Len yell at him for leaving out some magazines and videos that apparently weren't 'kid friendly'.

Wally hadn't known what he was expecting from Len's room. Probably something ice related. Maybe a giant machine that he would somehow use to take over the world (which wasn't really Len's style, but  _all_ supervillains had a giant machine like that). Wally saw neither of those things when Len opened the door and led him inside. Wally's first impression was actually that the room was pretty underwhelming. It looked completely normal with little to no personal touches thrown in. It was a little disappointing.

"What are you looking at?" Len looked at Wally strangely and the boy realized that he had been staring at the bare room.

"Theroom." Wally said. "It'sboring."

"...boring?" Len raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, I guess compared to  _James'_ room."

Wally felt his face become red. He really hadn't meant to say that out loud. Ever since getting his powers Wally had realized that he had a bit of a problem with speaking without thinking.

"Chill, kid, I know that my room's bare." Len laughed slightly at Wally's embarrassment. "We have multiple safe houses, and I don't want to get too attached to any of them, in case something happens." Oh, so Len was thinking ahead. That actually made a ton of sense, and made Wally feel even more embarrassed than before.

"Enough of that, though." Len closed the door behind them and Wally shivered when he realized just how cold the room really was. He hadn't noticed it when the door into the hallway was open and he could still feel the heat from the rest of the house, but Len's room was absolutely freezing. Len didn't seem bothered by it, though he did notice that Wally was shivering a little bit. "You cold, kid?"

Wally nodded and hoped that Len would take a hint and turn up the heat, because just because  _he_ was a human snowman didn't mean that Wally was. Len didn't do anything to change the temperature though, in fact, he seemed rather pleased that Wally was cold.

"Good." Len said. "That means we can get started." Len walked to the middle of the room and sat down on the ground in a cross legged position. Wally didn't understand what he was doing, but the way that Len was looking at him the boy knew that he was expected to join him.

"W-whatarewe-wedoing?" Wally stammered. Len looked at him with fascination and then smirked proudly.

"We're meditating." Len answered.

"Me-meditating? W-why?" Wally wrapped his arms around himself to try to warm himself up. It took Wally a few seconds, but then he realized that Len had answered his question, which meant that he must have understood it. "Y-youunderstoodw-whatIsaid?"

"You're stammering, Wally." Len took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You're naturally talking slower. It's still faster than any average human being speaks, but it's already more tangible than before."

Wally frowned. Was this Len's plan? To almost freeze him to death because the was the possibility that he would speak slower when he was cold? Wally didn't know how true Len's thesis was, and even if it was completely true, this was not a good method. How would  _this_ help Wally to speak slower when he wasn't cold.

"If you don't want to do this, then you know where the door is." Len said impatiently. "But if you're willing to trust me, then you need to  _sit down."_

Wally hesitated for just another moment before sitting on the floor just like Len was doing. He may not know what the man was up to, but Len always had a plan going on in his head, even though he rarely bothered to explain it to anybody else. He knew what he was doing.

"That's better." Len said, though he still sounded unhappy. "Have you ever meditated before?"

"N-no." Wally said honestly.

"Then this could be enlightening for you." Len adjusted his position. "The goal of meditation is to relax and clear your mind."

"H-how?" Wally asked. "W-why?"

"You relax by getting comfortable and turning all your focus on just one thing, such as your breathing." Len said. "Close your eyes."

Wally still didn't get it, but he closed his eyes like he was told to. "Now only think about your breathing. Notice how it feels when you breath in. When you breath out. Feel how your body responds to it. Notice these things, and focus only on them."

Wally took in a deep breath, and immediately Len found something to critique about it. "Don't force it. You know how to breath, Wally, you've been doing it your whole life, so just do it now."

Wally felt irritation, frustration, and a bit of anxiety build up inside of him because he didn't know what he was doing, and Len expected him to just do it right, but he didn't know how.

"Calm down, kid." Len said. "You're doing fine. You're doing just fine."

Just with those simple words Wally was able to calm down a little bit, though he felt a little confused. He had done something wrong. Len had pointed out that he had done something wrong, but he also said that it was fine?

"You're just learning." Len said calmly. "Nobody's perfect when they're first learning something."

"N-not even the easy things?" Wally asked uncertainly, and he didn't need to be looking at Len to know that the man had understood him just fine. Of course, it was easier to talk slowly when one was feeling uncertain.

"Especially not the easy things." Len gave a small laugh, though it didn't sound as patronizing as it normally did. It sounded almost sad. "You have no idea how long it took me to figure out how to smile."

"W-what?" Wally was just confused. What did that even  _mean?_

"It's...look, it's nothing." Len said. Just the way that Len said it made Wally feel even more confused, but he didn't dare to ask the man about it. Len was a very proud man, and he wouldn't be happy about a kid asking what he felt so insecure or upset about, because  _that_ had been what Wally had heard in his voice. "Just...focus, okay?"

"Okay." Wally said timidly. He still wasn't entirely sure what he was doing, but he would try. What had Len told him to do? To breath. Okay, that was easy enough. Breathing in felt shaky, because it was really cold. And breathing out felt more like he was shuddering, because it was  _really cold!_ Was the room always like this? And if so, how had Len not turned into a popsicle in his sleep? Was he part polar bear?

Right, he was supposed to focus. No more thinking about the cold. Just breathing. In, shaky. Out, shudder. In, out. Shaky, shudder.

Wally sat there for a few minutes, just thinking about breathing. His mind wandered a lot, so he kept on having to force it back to what he was supposed to be focusing on. It wasn't very relaxing, but eventually Wally got the hang of it. Soon after he started to get used to only thinking about breathing Wally began to get bored. He needed something else to think about. What else had Len said? Feel how your body responds to the breathing?

Wally could do that.

Wally breathed in and instead of repeating the mantra of 'in, out' in his head, he tried to notice the subtle little things that his body did in response. The one thing he immediately took notice of was how his chest expanded with every breath in, and went back in with every exhale. It was something that Wally knew his body did, but he had never actually paid attention to how it felt before. It was...really weird, actually.

Wally continued to do this for what felt like a long time. He knew his mind was just making it seem like time was moving more slowly than it really was. Still, it felt...different. Usually when it felt like time was moving agonizingly slowly it was because Wally was bored and wanted things to speed up. At that moment though Wally wasn't bored, he was...well, not  _relaxed_ exactly, but he felt okay.

He definitely felt more comfortable about doing this whole 'meditation' thing now that he had actually done it, even if he was pretty sure he had done it wrong.

"You doin' okay there, kid?" Len's voice broke through the silence. "You didn't fall asleep on me, did you."

Wally cracked a grin and peeked his eyes open to look at Len. "Like I would." Len smirked, though it was very nearly a smile, and got to his feet. He held his hand out to Wally.

"I think that's enough for now." Len said as he pulled the boy up. "How do you feel."

"Like an idiot." Wally said sheepishly, because sitting around in silence thinking only about breathing wasn't really something that he was used to doing.

"Don't worry," Len chuckled. "You'll get used to it."

Wally gaped at him. "You mean I have to do this  _again?"_  Sure, while he had been doing it Wally had felt okayish, but now he couldn't imagine doing it again.

"If you want to continue to talk like a normal human being, than yes." Len said.

"What...continue?" Wally didn't get it.

Len's eyes brightened mischievously. "Haven't you noticed?" Wally shook his head. "You've been talking just fine since we stopped."

"Iam?" Wally grew excited. "Really?!"

"Well,  _now_ you're not." Len crossed his arms, though not in a scolding way. "You've let yourself get excited. The reason that meditation will work is because it slows down your thoughts, which will slow down your speech."

"Oh." Wally didn't really understand how that worked, but it kinda sounded right. "So I just have to get used to slowing down my thoughts?"

"Pretty much." Len said. "So, you ready to go warm up?"

"Yes!" Wally exclaimed loudly. "Why's the room so cold anyways?" He could tell that he was still speaking fast, but he hoped that it was more of a normal fast.

"Because it made it so you had to try harder to focus." Len said in a voice that just sounded too casual to Wally. Anybody else would think that was all there was to it, but Wally had been around Len enough to know that that tone meant that he wasn't sharing the whole truth.

Wally hated it when Len did that. And he did it  _a lot._

"Hey, what's going on in here?" An amused looking Lisa poked her head out of the next room over, which was her own room. "I heard shouting."

"Sorry." Wally muttered, feeling kinda embarrassed. He had forgotten that it was more likely that somebody else was around than for all the rest of them to be gone.

Lisa grinned when she saw Wally. "Oh, Lenny, you have a friend over." Len scowled at the nickname. He hated it when Lisa called him 'Lenny' around other people, which was exactly why she did it. "What are you doing over so late, Wally?" The boy found it to be a strange question, considering the majority of the time when he was over it was the middle of the night.

"Len was teaching me how to meditate." Wally said, just a touch too quickly.

Lisa raised an eyebrow at Len, who returned the look easily. "What are you doing this in  _your_ room? Were you  _trying_ to freeze the kid to death."

"I had my reasons." Len said shortly.

Lisa wasn't as put off by Len's tone as Wally was. She just crossed her arms and looked annoyed. "Yeah? What were they?" Lisa probably didn't really care about why they had been in Len's room, but she hated it when Len kept secrets from her. She always had.

Len and Lisa glared at each other, and they must have had a silent conversation in their glance, because a moment later Len sighed in defeat. "Wally, why don't you go into the kitchen? There's some hot chocolate mix in the corner cupboard." Wally wanted to stay and listen to what the Snart siblings were going to be talking, but he knew that Len wouldn't say a word until he had left. So Wally grudgingly went into the kitchen.

He wasn't too disappointed though, because sound carried quite well in the house. Even when Wally was in the kitchen, he could basically hear what the two adults were saying. He listened as best he could while he started to make hot chocolate, because he knew that Len would be suspicious if he didn't make the drink. Besides, hot chocolate sounded  _really_ good right then.

"So, Lenny, what's going on?" Wally heard Lisa ask.

There was a slight pause. "You remember when I told you my theory about another speedster running around?"

"Yeah." Lisa said slightly hesitantly. "Are you saying that Wally's…"

"I don't know how it happened." Len said. "But Wally's got powers, just like his uncle. I'm trying to help him control things."

"Things like what?" Lisa asked. "What does this have to do with your room?"

"The first reason is to help him to learn to slow down his speech." Len said, which surprised Wally.  _First_ reason? What other reasons were there?

"And the second reason?" Lisa asked, and Wally found himself thinking the exact same question.

There was a pause before Len spoke again, though it was quieter than before. Wally almost couldn't hear his words... _almost._ "...One of Flash's weaknesses is the cold. His molecules slow down, so  _he_ slows down. If the kid gets used to being cold though-"

"-He could be able to figure out how to overcome the cold." Lisa realized. "You're  _helping_ him."

Wally felt his breath catch in his throat. Was  _that_ what Len had been doing? Wally didn't understand why he would do that. As their civilian selves, they were friends and Wally was fine with that, but they both knew that the second they slipped into their other personas, they were enemies. Enemies weren't supposed to help each other.  _Especially_ not with something like this. Cold and ice was Len's thing. Him teaching Wally how to overcome it meant he was teaching him how to overcome  _him._

Why would he do something like that?!

"...That's so  _sweet,_ Lenny." Lisa said in a gentle voice. Wally could hear Len's growl of frustration. Len wasn't the type of guy who showed emotion easily. He had a hard time letting himself get close to people, and even when he did he rarely let it show just how much he cared.

Wally wouldn't even believe that this was a sign of just how much Len cared about him if it weren't for the fact that it was Lisa who saw it. She had known Len her entire life. She knew how to recognize what his behavior and actions meant better than anybody else could. So if  _she_ thought that Len cared about Wally, like, really, truly cared about him, then it was true.

Wally felt a warmth fill his chest and he couldn't stop smiling. He wasn't exactly surprised about tonight's discoveries, even though he was a little confused by them, but they made him inexplicably happy nonetheless.

Wally really didn't have very many people in his life who  _truly_ cared about him. He had forgotten just how good it could feel.


	5. Chapter 5

Wally's favorite part of the day was usually when he had the opportunity to go out as Kid Flash. The majority of the time he worked together with his uncle, and Wally loved the one on one time. He loved the feeling of the wind through his hair and the earth under his feet as he ran. He loved to help people, whether it be by stopping a bank robbery, or talking to somebody who just looked lonely. And, though it had only happened a handful of times, Wally loved it when he could talk The Rogues down from whatever crime they were going to commit.

James listened to him more often than he didn't, unless another Rogue was around. Hartley didn't seem to care one way or another. Wally honestly wasn't sure what those two were doing running around with the Rogues. And then there was Lisa, Len's little sister. Wally didn't actually know her all that well, but from what he could tell, she wasn't villain material. Not really. She was only with The Rogues because of her brother. Lisa had once told Wally that Len had done his best to keep her away from trouble when they were kids, and she owed it to him to do the same now.

Wally was curious about just what kind of trouble they had had to deal with in the past, but he didn't ask, because he knew that he wouldn't get an answer anyways.

Even the Rogues that Wally didn't think he was all that close to, he knew better than he probably should. He couldn't help it. Wally had been friends with the criminals long before he had ever became a hero, and nothing had changed after he got his powers. It had been a little more than a year since the lightning incident that had given him super speed, and Wally had only become more comfortable with his relationship with his enemies.

That didn't mean that he went easy on them though. Wally knew perfectly well that they were still bad guys, and it was his job to stop them. When they were their civilian selves, Wally didn't see a problem with hanging out with them once or twice a week. They second they all donned their masks and costumes though, they were enemies.

Even though it got weird sometimes, fighting his friends, Wally took his job as Kid Flash very seriously. It was one of his favorite things in the world, and most days Wally counted down the seconds until he could go out and fight some crime.

Other days though, Wally counted down the seconds until he could be done and just go home...or to Uncle Barry's place.

Wally grit his teeth and shifted his weight to put more pressure on his right foot than his left. His left ankle was absolutely killing him. It felt like it was on fire, and Wally didn't understand why. Sure, he had... _injured_  it a few days ago, but he had thought that it had healed by now. There was no reason why it should be acting up.

Regardless of the reason  _why_ , it still hurt.  _A lot._ Wally knew that it wasn't smart to stand when his foot was hurt like this, let alone run, but he didn't really have much of a choice. Wally knew that if he told Uncle Barry that he needed the day off, then the man would get concerned and would pester him until he found out why. Uncle Barry didn't even know that Wally had hurt his ankle in the first place, and it wasn't something that the young teenager was all that eager to bring up.

Wally had kept his... _situation_  a secret for years now, and he wasn't about to let it fall apart just because of one bum ankle.

He would just have to deal with the pain until they were done.

For once, Wally was grateful that the Rogues were doing one of their big, coordinated attacks on the city/Flash. Uncle Barry was kept so busy by attack after attack from The Rogues, that he didn't even notice Wally's lack of participation.

Somebody else had though.

In spite the chaos of the battle Wally, who had been trying his best to stay as inconspicuous as possible, found himself making eye contact with none other than Captain Cold. The leader of The Rogues was usually the one leading the charge, but at that moment instead of joining his companions in trying to defeat The Flash, for whatever reason, Captain Cold chose to stare at Wally.

It was pretty unnerving. Leonard Snart's looks and glares could be intimidating enough on their own, but when he was in his Captain Cold getup, complete with eyewear, it was impossible to know exactly what was going through his head. Wally didn't like the way that Cold was looking at him, it felt like he was being examined or something. Growing uncomfortable, Wally tried to shuffle away from the man's line of sight, but he completely forgot about his busted ankle.

Wally let out a short cry of pain when he put pressure on his foot. He immediately lifted it off the ground, without making it too obvious that he was doing so. Wally was fairly certain that nobody had heard him, but one look at Captain Cold, who was definitely scowling angrily at this point confirmed that the man had definitely seen it all.

Wally stared just as intently at Captain Cold as the man was staring at him. The teenager shook his head and silently begged his enemy/friend to not say a word about the injury that he both knew that he had.

Captain Cold  _half_ met his request.

The man lifted his eyewear off his face, and Wally couldn't help but gasp slightly when he did so. Their masks and protective eyewear symbolized their hero/villain persona. Captain Cold only ever took off his goggles when he no longer considered himself to be 'Captain Cold', but just the regular civilian Leonard Snart.

Wally had only seen Len let go of his Captain Cold persona in a middle of a fight a handful of times, and  _never_ when Flash could see it. Whatever his reason behind it was, it had to be important. So when Wally saw Len gesture towards a nearby alleyway that was out of sight from the others, he knew that it was best to just go with it.

Wally bit his lip and slowly made his way to the alley. He had to move slowly and carefully, so as to not put too much pressure on his hurt foot. Len was waiting for him, and Wally could tell by looking in the man's eyes that he wanted to help him the rest of the way to the alley, but he couldn't because they both knew that it would attract too much attention from the others.

And unwanted attention wasn't exactly something that was welcomed at a one on one private conversation. Not that Wally  _wanted_ to have this conversation, but he had learned years ago that if Leonard Snart wanted to talk to you, then you had better listen.

The second that Wally stepped into the alley len ordered him with a glance to sit down. Wally didn't really appreciate being told what to do, but he did it anyways, but  _only_ because his foot was hurting. It had nothing to do with Wally's fear of angering Len...nope,  _nothing_ to do with that at all.

Wally slumped against the wall of one of the buildings and let himself slide down to the ground. He was just glad that the alley was relatively clean. Len knelt down on the ground in front of him, tugged Wally's left boot off, and immediately began to examine his foot. The teen winced in pain at every prod and twist, but he kept quiet and held still. He knew that Len knew what he was doing. He just had to trust him.

Len was silent for a few minutes. He focused solely on Wally's foot, testing where it hurt most when he applied pressure. After a while though Len asked the question that Wally knew had been plaguing him the second he had seen him put pressure on his foot.

"How did you break your ankle, Wally?" Len asked in a cold, hard voice that told the teenager that he was barely keeping in his anger.

"I-I tripped." Wally bit the inside of his cheek and grunted in pain when Len tried to straighten his ankle out. "I-I just fell down the stairs." It wasn't a lie, it just wasn't the entire truth either.

Len lifted his gaze away from Wally's foot and towards his eyes. Wally refused to meet his gaze though. He knew it would just make Len more suspicious, but he couldn't bring himself to lie to his face like that. Not this time.

Len was silent for a moment. "... _When_ did you fall down the stairs?"

"A few days ago." Wally said automatically, even though it had been nearly a week. Once again though, he wasn't technically lying.

"Was somebody else around when you fell down the stairs?" Len asked, and Wally could feel his hands beginning to shake. Len was too smart. He noticed things. He asked the hard questions that nobody else would think twice about, and those were the questions that really stumped Wally.

When he didn't answer right away, Len became concerned and more determined. "Wally-"

"No." Wally said too quickly. "Nobody else was around." He didn't even have to be looking at Len to know that he didn't believe him. It had been a really terrible lie.

"Did they know that you fell down the stairs?" Len's tone was even more patronizing than usual. He sounded like one of Wally's teachers. Why was Len bothering to ask a question that he already knew the answer to?

"...Don't make me answer that." Wally whimpered, but Len ignored his words.

"If they knew that you 'fell' down the stairs, why didn't they take you to a hospital?" Len asked.

"...They did." That was a blatant lie, and Wally knew that Le would never believe it.

"No, they didn't." Len's voice sounded sad and angry at the same time. "Kid, your broken ankle healed wrong." Oh, so  _that_ was why it still hurt. "This wouldn't have happened if you had gotten it properly taken care of."

"...Can you fix it?" Wally didn't want to focus on Len's questions. He didn't want Len to focus on interrogating him. He was  _this_ close to finding out the truth, and Wally couldn't let that happen. Nobody could know.

Len was silent for a few moments. "...We're going to have to break it again to make sure that we can get the bone set properly." That sounded like it would hurt  _a lot,_ but Wally knew that he was right.

"Do it." Wally said as he closed his eyes tightly and clenched his fists. He wanted to just get it over with. He knew that Len knew how to do it, he knew a lot about injuries and how to fix them.

Unfortunately, he was also a cold hearted  _bastard_ when he did so (don't tell Uncle Barry that Wally had thought that). Len barely even tightened his grip on Wally's ankle. Without even giving any kind of warning whatsoever, Len just did exactly what Wally had wanted him to do. He rebroke Wally's ankle.

And it hurt like  _hell._

" _Gah!"_ Wally screamed in pain. Before his scream had even died down Wally felt the air crackle with electricity. His uncle was there, and even though Wally was blinded by the black spots that seemed to be dancing in his eyes, he could tell that he was angry. Wally could feel it in the bits of speedforce around his uncle. The man was absolutely furious, and he only needed one guess to know who he was mad at. After all, what else was Uncle Barry supposed to think when he saw Wally with an obviously broken ankle, clearly in pain, with their enemy right there?

"N-no. Wait." Wally lunged forward, as well as he could, and reached for where he could sense the most speedforce. He grabbed his uncle's leg. "I-it wasn't his fault. Len's not the one who hurt me." Wally forced the words out through gritted teeth. His vision started to clear up slightly and Wally could see that his uncle had Len shoved harshly against the wall with one hand while the other was clenched and drawn back, ready to punch him. At Wally's words though, the scarlet speedster hesitated to go through with the hit.

"...If  _he_ didn't hurt you, then who did?" Barry's question wasn't sincere. He didn't believe Wally's words.

"Yes, kid," Wally saw Len staring intently down at him. There was a strange look in his eyes. A protectiveness that he had seen a number of times before, but didn't know exactly what it meant. "Who  _did_ hurt you?"

Wally shuddered at Len's words. He could tell by the way that he had said it that the question was meant to have been rhetorical. Which meant that he wasn't looking for an answer, because he already had one.

_Len knew._

The teenager had known for a few years now that Len had suspected that something was wrong with Wally's home life. The man was always asking questions. He never hesitated to let Wally stay with them. Len always made sure that Wally felt safe with them, because he knew that the teenager didn't feel that way at home.

Wally should have been relieved. He should have been glad that somebody finally realized what was going on. He should be grateful that he had somebody that he knew would always have his back (unless he was trying to stab it). But Wally didn't feel that way.

He felt absolutely terrified.

Wally just felt so scared, and everything hurt so badly. When the cops arrived to take in any of the Rogues who hadn't run off, Wally didn't say a word as they arrested Len for whatever they had been doing that day. He barely made a sound when Uncle Barry helped him to set his ankle, properly this time. Wally just sat there, unresponsive.

He felt like things were spiraling out of control, and he didn't know how to rein things back in again. He didn't know what to expect from the future. He didn't know how long he could keep this whole situation a secret from Uncle Barry, and he wasn't even sure that he should anymore. Wally just felt so unsure about everything.

And it scared him.

* * *

Wally didn't know whether he wanted to curse the fact that he had hurt his ankle, or be grateful for it. On the one hand, even though Wally's ankle healed fully within just a day of getting it fixed properly, Uncle Barry still insisted that he take the entire week off. No hero business. No running. Usually Wally hated these times, but he was somewhat relieved for the break.

He just had so many conflicting emotions, ones that he didn't want to deal with. It was a lot harder to put up a front and lie convincingly when his thoughts were filled with anxiety and uncertainty. Wally still couldn't have Uncle Barry know about what was happening, but the man would know that something was wrong if he saw him. That was how badly Wally's defenses had fallen.

The downside to taking some mandatory downtime was that it meant that Wally was stuck as his civilian self, and he wasn't exactly all that fond of his civilian self's life.

The only perk that he could think of to being plain, old, nerdy Wally West was that he lived in Keystone. Wally loved Central City, but he sometimes felt crowded there. Everybody seemed to know everybody, or, at the very least, they all seemed to know Wally and/or Kid Flash. Wally considered himself a people person, and for the most part he really enjoyed just stopping for a chat with the people in Central. Sometimes though, he just needed a chance to get out of the house and think. That was where Keystone City came in.

Keystone was Wally's home. He may feel safer at Uncle Barry's place, but there was just something so familiar to him about the streets of Keystone that drew him back there. Whenever Wally had something on his mind that he either needed to think about or  _stop_ thinking about, all he had to do was walk along the streets of Keystone in the darkness of the night when the rest of the world was asleep. Whatever he was looking for within himself, he usually found it when he was out there.

Wally took advantage of the peace and solitude to let himself think. Usually when Wally started thinking intently about something, it completely took over his thoughts and made him oblivious to the world around him. Depending on the situation, this could either be extremely rude, or extremely dangerous. This was why Wally tried to only do this when he was by himself.

There were disadvantages to Wally doing this. He sometimes let himself get so caught in his own thoughts that he didn't properly pay attention to his surroundings. It was stupid, and dangerous, and he hated it when it came back to bite him in the butt.

Wally heard a strange ' _whrrr'_ ing sound that reminded him of something from a sci-fi movie. It sounded familiar to him, but he was so distracted that he didn't realize what was going on until it was a second too late. By the time Wally realized the potential danger that he was in, a blast of ice was already shooting out and freezing the ground just inches away from where he stood.

Now feeling completely alert, Wally quickly turned towards the source of the ice. He wasn't all that surprised to see Leonard Snart standing across the street, his cold gun in his hands, but he  _was_ disappointed to see the man. It really was sad just how easily Len could break out of prison at this point.

"Sloppy." Len scolded as he began to cross the empty street. His scowl reminded Wally more of a disappointed teacher than a supervillain who tried to kill him on a weekly basis. "You should have seen that attack coming from a mile away."

Wally didn't have anything to say to that, because he knew that he was right. It still felt pretty terrible to hear from his enemy.

"I was distracted." Wally said, even though he knew it was no excuse.

"Getting distracted will get you killed." Len said seriously.

"Noted." Wally grumbled. He hated it when Len got strict with him. Unfortunately, it happened a lot. And Len was  _really_ good at it.

"Now, to the point." Wally stiffened at Len's words. He knew where the man was going with this, and he really,  _really_ didn't want to hear it. "How's your ankle doing?"

"...Uh, it's okay." Wally had not been expecting that question all. "It feels completely normal."

"Good." Len nodded. "Do you want to talk about  _what_ happened to your foot?"

"No." Wally said firmly and quickly.

"Alright, let me rephrase that." Len adjusted his grip on his cold gun, which Wally recognized as a nervous tick of his. "Tell me what happened." It wasn't a request, and Wally knew it.

"...Can I not?" Wally asked. Len's glare answered his question for him.

"Kid, I've let you dodge around these questions for  _years_ ," Len said in his cold, hard voice that he only used when he was really angry. Wally just didn't know whether Len was mad at him, or at himself. "Now,  _tell_ me what's going on between you and your dad."

Wally scowled and shoved his hands in his pockets. "What's the point? You already know what's going on."

"But do  _you_ understand the severity of what's going on?" Len raised an eyebrow at him, and Wally felt himself grow angry. Did the man really mean to imply that  _Wally_ didn't understand what was happening to  _him?_ Was he serious?

"Don't." Wally growled. "Don't talk like you understand what I'm going through."

Len's eyes flashed dangerously. "Do you honestly think that you're the only one who's gone through this kind of thing?" Len's voice was low and dangerous. "Do you think that you're the only kid who had to deal with being  _constantly_ afraid."

Wally froze. "...What?"

Len sighed and fiddled with his cold gun. "...You're not the only one, Wally, who had a bastard of a father."

Wally didn't know what he could say to that. There  _wasn't_ anything he could say to that.

"So, whether you believe it or not, I  _do_ understand what you've had to go through." Len continued, and Wally didn't think he had ever heard him sound as vulnerable as he did at that moment. Len was always so cool and confident, and it just felt wrong to see just how human he was.

"I know you feel like you've handled this just fine on your own." Len said seriously. "But trust me when I say that you can't."

Wally frowned. "What are you saying?" Len sent Wally a look that made him feel like an idiot. Len was really good at those kinds of looks.

"Get yourself some help before you get yourself in a situation you won't be able to handle ." Len said.

Wally straightened up. He knew that Len meant the best, but he had been handling things pretty well on his own so far. He was pretty sure that he could handle things for just a few more years. He didn't need to burden anybody else with his problems. "I can handle things." Wally said confidently, or, at the very least, stubbornly.

"I used to think the same thing." Wally was thrown off by just how much pain he saw reflected in Len's eyes. "Don't make the same mistake I did, Wally." The man returned his gun to the holster on his hip. Len slowly, almost hesitantly began to pull his shirt up until it rested on his shoulders. Wally winced empathetically when he saw all of the scars and wounds spread all over his chest. When Len turned around though and Wally got a look at his back, he felt his breath catch in his throat and he could swear that he was going to be sick.

Len's back was littered with angry scars, just like his chest was, except it was even worse. The scars on Len's chest looked bad, but they all looked like they could have been caused by a lot of bad accidents. The ones on his back though, there was no way that these were unintentional. The scars were too big, the wounds had been too deep. There were about a dozen small, circular burn marks on his upper back and creeping up his neck that clearly came from cigarette butts.

That wasn't the worst of it though. Not even close. The worst was the large, angry word that had been carved into Len's skin. From his left shoulder blade all the way down to the right of his lower back nine ugly, painful looking letters spelled out a word that Wally was sure was even uglier and more painful than the cuts themselves had been.

_Worthless._

"...It happened when I was sixteen." Len said quietly. "I thought that I could handle things on my own." That sounded familiar. "I got cocky, and stupid." Len shook his head. He pulled his shirt back on. "Don't make the same mistake I did."

Wally knew that their circumstances were not the same at all. Because of his quick healing, it was all but impossible for him to get scarred the way that Len had. Still, after what Wally had seen, it was hard not to take this matter more seriously.

Len could see the conflict in Wally's eyes. "I know I can't force you to do anything, but I think we both know that you need help... _real_ help."

Wally knew exactly what Len was saying, he just didn't want to think about it. He didn't really have much of a choice though. It was a little hard to  _not_ think about it.

"Just think about it." Len put a hand on Wally's shoulder, which meant a lot, considering how the man usually despised physical contact (and now Wally understood why), and he rarely ever initiated it. "Please."

"...Okay." Wally said quietly. It scared the teenager just how relieved Len looked because of his simple agreement.

Len nodded and let go of Wally's shoulder. His hand immediately returned to the familiarity of his cold gun. Len, who never really stuck around after he had accomplished what he had planned to do, turned and began to walk back to his safehouse. He didn't say another word, but Len did cast another concerned and encouraging look Wally's way before he walked off.

Wally just stood there for a few moments, even more lost in his thoughts as he had been before. He felt exhausted, upset, angry, vulnerable, and about a million other emotions that he couldn't even identify.

Wally had no idea what he was going to do. He had about a billion reasons as to why he should keep this to himself. He didn't want to get his dad in trouble, because, as much as it sucked, Wally still loved him. He also didn't want to be the one to get in trouble if something went wrong and he just angered his father even more. Wally didn't want to ask for help, because it would feel like admitting defeat. This was  _his_ family, and  _his_ issues. He should be able to handle it on his own.

And what kind of hero would he be if he couldn't even deal with his own problems?

On the other hand though, Wally was so tired of putting on an act in front of everybody. He was still just a kid, but he felt like his soul was about a hundred years old, and he just felt so  _tired._ And he was  _scared._  He just didn't want to deal with this anymore.

Wally's mind felt like it was raging war with itself. When he finally forced himself to begin the slow walk home, his decision kept on switching from one side to the other. When he finally got home though, he made up his mind. Wally realized as he snuck back into the house as quietly as he possibly could, flinching at every little creak that he heard because he was scared of waking up his dad, that he didn't want to do this anymore.

No kid should be terrified of coming home.

Wally slowly and quietly crept up the stairs and into his room. He grabbed his comm link from where it sat next to his hidden Kid Flash suit, and, after taking nearly ten minutes to work up the nerve, he turned on the distress signal.

For a couple of agonizing seconds, nothing happened. Finally though Wally heard the other end of the link tune in. "Wally?" The voice was tired and concerned. "What's up, kiddo?" Wally felt bad for waking them up so late, but he knew that if he didn't do this now then he wouldn't ever do it.

"U-uncle Barry?" Wally's voice trembled. He clutched so tightly to the comm link that he was surprised that it didn't break in his shaking hands. "I...T-there's something I need to tell you-"


	6. Chapter 6

en got caught by The Flash/the police more often then he would ever like to admit. He had been arrested so many times, it was almost funny, and just a little bit pathetic. Pathetic that he got caught so often, and pathetic that the cops  _still_  hadn't figured out a way to  _keep_ him locked up.

As annoying as it was for Len to be in police custody, it was always just as hilarious to see their reactions when he eventually escaped.

As fun as he thought their little game was, Len had to change up the way he played quite frequently. He knew that he couldn't continuously escape from custody within the first day, or else the cops would all have their guard up from the very start. He had to change up when he escaped, which meant that, unfortunately, sometimes he had to let himself be imprisoned for more than just a few hours.

Len had learned to be okay with this. He even enjoyed the imprisonment, to a certain degree. It gave him a break away from all of the noise and chaos of the outside world. Maybe it wasn't normal for a prison to be seen as a kind of sanctuary, but then again, normal prisoners couldn't just break out whenever they wanted.

There had even been one or two times when Len had  _let_ himself get captured and didn't escape for a month or two. The reason why was quite simple. Len was a planner by nature, a schemer, and he found nearly as much enjoyment in plotting out an elaborate heist as he did carrying it out. It could get difficult to plot a complicated plan though, because Mick and Lisa were always interrupting his thoughts to force him to eat or sleep, or one of his rogues would get sloppy and it would be up to  _him_ to save their asses, as usual. Or, of course, Flash was having a slow week and thought that following Captain Cold would be a good use of his time.

While he was in prison though, Flash didn't consider him his problem. The Rogues had to rely on somebody else to save their careless selves. And even though Len was still told when to eat, sleep, and practically  _breath_ while in prison, it was all on a set schedule. Len could deal with doing things that he didn't want to do as long as he knew precisely  _when_ it was going to happen.

So, as odd as it seemed, Len really didn't mind prisons all that much. They were fun to escape from, and a decent place to get away from the chaotic mess that was his life.

There were downsides to being in prison though, not that that was much of a surprise. It was  _prison_ after all. Hey, no work space was perfect. It was still where Len could think most clearly. The one  _huge_ downside to having prison basically be his own little sanctuary from the world was that whenever he was gone for more than two days, he would return to find that  _something_ was different. It was ever so infuriating to break out of prison, his mind filled with plots and schedules, only to have all of those ideas pushed to the back of his mind as some kind of situation came to bite him in the ass, forcing him to put his ideas on hold. Len understand that he couldn't exactly expect the world to stop moving just because he wanted it to, but was it really all that much to ask that just  _once_ he didn't return home only to have a new problem waiting to kick him in the ass?

After Len's latest little visit to prison, though it wasn't all that 'little', considering he had been gone for nearly a month, he made his way back to the safehouse in Keystone. Len had tried to prepare himself to be able to deal with whatever nonsense his team had to throw at him this time around, but he hadn't been prepared to  _literally_ have something thrown at him the second he walked through the door.

Even after a number of years, Len  _still_ couldn't prepare himself for James Jesse, and he didn't think that he ever would. On the bright side though, he  _had_ gotten pretty used to dealing with James' insanity. So good, in fact, that his reflexes had saved him from getting hit in the face by a stray dart...apparently, a  _very_ stray dart, considering they didn't even keep their dart board in that room.

Under normal circumstances Len would drag James back into his room and calmly but firmly remind him that he wasn't supposed to throw darts at anything except for their board. Especially since James wasn't even supposed to be playing with the sharp darts in the first place. As much as James tried his patience, Len had long since learned that the young adult responded best if he was spoken to in a calm, quiet manner.

Calm and quiet wasn't exactly an option that day though, not when Hartley was already there, screaming at James. Not scolding or yelling,  _screaming_  like a spoiled child who was throwing a temper tantrum. It wasn't uncommon for Hartley and James to get into a fight. The two of them liked to be around each other, but neither of them ever really bothered to even try to understand what the other was feeling.

" _Alright!"_ Len shouted so his voice could cut above Hartley's. He glared at the two young adults who were behaving as though they were a third their age. "Does someone want to explain to me what's going on?"

James pouted angrily and glared stubbornly at the wall. "I was just having some fun."

"Fun?" Hartley''s eyes flashed dangerously. "You were throwing darts at my rat!"

Len groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "James, we've talked about you using living things for target practice."

"But playing on a board is so boring." James whined. "I wanted to play darts with somebody, and  _he_ wouldn't play with me." James glared angrily at Hartley, who met his gaze with even more ferocity.

"Last time I played with you you almost hit me in the eye with a dart." Hartley said coldly. Len raised an eyebrow. It must have happened recently for him to not have heard such a thing.

"That's because I didn't want to play with  _you,_ " James said as though it should have been obvious, and to him it probably was. "I wanted to play with-"

"With Wally, I know." Hartley rolled his eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you that he's not-"

"No!" James screamed as he drew back his arm which. Len rushed forward and grabbed his arm before James could throw the dart that was in his hand. Len frowned when he felt that James' hand was shaking really badly. "Stop saying that! He's not...he has to…" James sniffled and glared harshly at Hartley, even as tears started to well up in his eyes. "He's coming back!"

"No, he's not." Hartley snapped. "He told us so himself."

"Well, he's wrong." James yanked his arm out of Len's grip and fled back to his room. Len stared in confusion at where James had ran off to, and then he turned back to Hartley, who just looked tired, almost as though these little outbursts had become a common occurrence.

"So," Len crossed his arms and looked sternly at Hartley. "Care to explain what all that was about?"

Hartley sighed and crouched down as he began to look for something under the couch, most likely his now terrified pet rat. "He's just upset because he misses Wally."

Len raised an eyebrow. "And what's happened to Wally?"

Hartley froze and cautiously looked up at him in near disbelief. "...you didn't hear about it?"

Len was starting to grow concerned. "Hear about what?"

Hartley grimaced and slowly got to his feet. He clutched his pet close to his chest. "Wally's powers aren't working right. I don't really know what's going on with them, but it's bad enough that he's decided to quit the hero business for good."

"...What?" Len didn't think he had ever come home to such a large change. "Did Flash tell him to quit?" Barry Allen was extremely protective of Wally, especially since he had found out about the teenager's father. Len wouldn't be the least bit surprised to learn that Barry was forbidding Wally from using his powers because he was paranoid and overreacting.

"Actually, no, it was Wally's idea." Hartley said. "He's too scared that something will go wrong to even  _try_ to use his powers anymore."

That didn't sound like Wally at all. Ever since he was a small child Wally had always been interested in looking for answers. He was a bit of a scientist at heart, and it just sounded so wrong that Wally was to  _scared_ to try to find a solution.

Len would have to talk with him about that...and also about James. Even if Wally was stepping out of the hero business, that was no reason to stop playing games with James or hanging out with the Rogues at all. After all, Wally had been an honorary Rogue long before he had gotten his powers in the first place.

Len sighed and turned around to go right back outside. So much for relaxation. "I'll go talk to Wally. I'll be back soon to talk to James." He didn't necessarily  _want_ to be the one to play babysitter, but if Wally was going to be too scared to push himself, and James was going to pout about his problems until they just magically went away, then Len needed to interfere before they let things got out of hand.

It was really annoying, sometimes, to be the one in charge.

It didn't take all that long for Len to find Wally. He had known the boy for ten years, and in that time he had learned well of all of Wally's usual hang-outs. He was always able to find Wally whenever he went out looking for him.

Len ultimately ended up finding Wally in the middle of the bridge that connected Keystone and Central City. There was a blank, almost distant look on his face. He seemed to be completely unaware of the world around him, as though he was lost in his own mind. If Len didn't already know that something was wrong, he would have figured it out the second that he saw Wally.

Len didn't say anything for a few minutes. He just stood next to Wally and stared out at the river that ran between the two cities. Len would have been content to just stay there all day, but he knew that he couldn't. Wally wasn't going to talk about something like this without being asked to, so it was up to Len to start up the conversation.

"So, Hartley tells me you've been having a hard time with your powers." Len didn't see any point in beating around the bush. He looked at Wally, who had tensed at his question. "Care to talk about it?"

Wally crossed his arms over his chest in almost a protective manner. He looked much younger than the seventeen year old that he was. "...I don't know what's wrong." Wally said in a quiet voice. "My powers aren't working the way that they should."

"What do you mean?" Len asked, because he wanted to have a clearer idea of what was going on. He couldn't exactly get that if everybody was going to insist on being vague.

Wally shifted uncomfortably. "I've been experimenting with my speed a bit these past couple of months, but things keep on going wrong." Wally said. ""It's like...it feels like my powers are backfiring on me, and it  _hurts."_

"Maybe you're just pushing yourself too hard." Len suggested.

Wally's hands clenched at his arms. "Uncle Barry has been able to do things like phase through walls for  _years._ He thought I was ready too. And even when he was just learning how to do those things, nothing like  _this_ ever happened to him." Wally sighed and his eyes seemed to glaze over even more. "And sometimes my powers act up when I'm just running, not just when I'm trying something new. I just...I don't think it's safe for me to use them. It's too unpredictable, and if I can't control my powers than I don't really have a right to use them."

Len rolled his eyes and barely kept himself from scoffing. So Wally was scared and had decided to throw himself a pity party because of it. How melodramatic...how like a teenager.

"It  _does_ sound like you need to give your powers a bit of a break." Len nodded. "But you seem to believe that it has to be a permanent thing." Wally looked at Len as though he was crazy, but the man wasn't backing down. "Just because your powers are giving you a hard time  _now_ doesn't mean that they will  _later."_

Wally glared at Len, though the teenager's slight pout made the intimidation tactic much less effective. "How do you know they won't?"

"How do you know they will?" Len raised an eyebrow at Wally. This shut the redhead up, at least for a moment. "Look, kid, you can't just stop doing something just because you're afraid that something  _might_ go wrong."

"It has gone wrong." Wally said shortly.

"So you're just giving up?" Len crossed his arms. "Wally, you're a smart kid. You're a scientist. You're really telling me that you're going to just let your powers go without doing  _something_  to figure out what's going on with them?"

"...What do you mean?" Wally asked. Len sighed. He didn't understand how Wally didn't get what he was saying at this point.

"One reason why your powers may not be working the way that you want them to is because you're expecting them to work the way that your uncle's do." Len said. "I don't know if you've noticed, but your powers  _aren't_ the same as Allen's. Even  _I_ can tell as much. You guys have similar powers, but I don't think you're connected to the...force thing in the same way."

"The speed force?" Wally tilted his head in consideration. He thought for a moment about Len's words.

"Yes, that." Even after years of working around speedsters, Len couldn't bother to learn their technical terms. It didn't matter to  _him_ where exactly their powers came from, but it definitely matter to Wally. "Look, I'm gonna be straight with you, Wally, I don't know anything about your speed force, but you're a smart kid. I'm sure you'll be able to figure out how it works." The expression on Wally's face showed that he hadn't even thought of that before.

"You...think that I should learn about the speed force?" Wally asked.

"I'm actually surprised you haven't already." Len admitted. "If I had powers, I would learn everything I could about them, and not just how to use them."

Wally grinned slightly. "I hadn't really thought about it before." Wally looked pleased with the idea though, even a little bit excited about it. The kid really was a bit of a scientist at heart. He liked to have answers, and he knew how to go looking for them. Len didn't completely understand where Wally's hesitance to take risks and look for answers had come from, but he had an idea, and he partially blamed himself for it.

"You listen to me, Wally, because I'm only going to say this once." Len put a hand on Wally's shoulder, which caught the kid's attention because they  _both_ knew how much Len hated physical contact. If he was the one initiating it, then it was for a very good reason and he should be listened to. "I taught you earlier that sometimes in life you have to accept that there are moments where you need to let go of your pride and leave a situation if you can't handle it." Such as when one is being abused by their father.

"This though?" Len shook his head. "I don't think it's one of those times."

Wally blinked. Len could tell by looking at his face that he still didn't completely understand, but at least he was thinking about it. That was enough for now.

"Also, try to visit James every once and awhile." Len dropped his hand from Wally's shoulder and shoved it into his pocket. "Apparently he's been pretty upset since you've left." And they both knew how James was when he got upset.

"Yeah, I can do that." Wally grinned sheepishly.

"You'd better." Len warned. "Or else Hartley will come and hunt you down."

Wally laughed weakly, even though they both knew that Len wasn't joking at all.


	7. Chapter 7

Wally had always loved learning, even as a child. While the other kids would stare at the clock, wishing that recess would come quicker, Wally was the one who couldn't wait for their free time to end because they always learned science just after recess. He had always been considered a major nerd and geek, and he had always been proud of that. Even so, there was only so much school and science that Wally could take. Even science geeks could get tired of overbearing forensic science classes sometimes.

So when Wally's night classes finally let out on November 11th, he couldn't be any more relieved and excited. It had kinda sucked that he had to go to school on his birthday (he actually went to both day  _and_ night classes most days. Aunt Iris often asked him when he ever slept. Wally would just answer by saying that he honestly didn't know), but Wally was able to bare through it because he had the knowledge that he didn't have any more classes that week. He had a full three days to do whatever the heck he wanted, and he was planning on enjoying himself.

After all, it wasn't often that he got a break from school, and it wasn't everyday that one turned 21. These were the good times, and Wally wanted to take advantage of it while he could.

...He just had to think of what he wanted to do to celebrate.

Wally wouldn't have a problem with just going back to Barry and Iris' place, except he knew that they were out of town. They both felt incredibly bad about being gone during his birthday, but Wally had assured them multiple times that he was fine with it. There was nothing wrong with him celebrating his birthday with them a few weeks later than his actual birthday was. He just needed to think of something to do with himself in the meantime.

Maybe he would just stay in and marathon a couple of movies. Maybe he would just drop his stuff off, freshen up a bit and go out somewhere. He would have to see what he was in the mood for. First though, he needed to get back to his apartment.

The night was chilly, which was normal in November, but Wally didn't mind it so much. He had spent far too much time with Len to even be bothered by a little nippy weather. Besides, his apartment was only a twenty minute walk away from campus, which really wasn't all that far. Barry and Iris had offered to let him stay with them multiple times, but Wally always refused. He had gotten used to taking care of himself, and he didn't think he would know how to live with caring, loving people all the time.

And Barry and Iris didn't live close enough to his school that he could walk there every day, let alone multiple times a day. He would have had to get a car, or take the bus or something, and Wally really didn't want to do that. He had never been a fan of cars, even as a kid. Walking and running may be slower (unless he used his powers, which he hadn't for a few years), but it certainly felt safer and was more enjoyable.

Wally had always felt extremely safe in Central City, even when he was walking home, late at night, by himself. It was one of the safest cities that he knew, even when The Flash wasn't around to keep the peace. On that particular night though, Wally couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Not necessarily in a  _dangerous_ kind of way, but still  _wrong._

Wally subconsciously began to walk faster, because whether he used his powers or not, he always felt just a bit safer when her was going faster. He didn't know why he felt the desire to feel safer, he just knew that the sooner he got back to his apartment, the better he would feel.

Just as Wally passed the halfway point from school to his apartment a young man came stumbling out of a nearby alleyway straight into him, which nearly knocked them both over. Wally had good balance though, so he was able to steady himself and the guy who had run into him.

"Sorry." The guy muttered in a low voice, his head hung low. Wally couldn't see his face. He could just tell that he had unruly blond hair. A slight sense of familiarity tickled the back of Wally's mind, but he ignored it. There wasn't any need for him to make himself feel any more paranoid than he already was.

"Hey, it's fine." Wally said lightheartedly as he tried to get a good look at the young man who couldn't be more than a few years older than him. He could feel the kid's hands shaking, and he seemed extremely jittery and nervous. He kind of reminded Wally of all the kids he saw on campus who just wanted to know where their next fix would be coming from. "Are you okay?" Paranoid or not, Wally just wouldn't feel right about letting a kid who may or may not be experiencing withdrawal continue hurting if there was something he would do about it.

"M'fine." The kid muttered as he began to scratch at his arm. "Just waiting for a friend."

"...Do you want me to wait with you?" Wally knew that he would stay in the general area, even if the kid said no, just to make sure that he was really okay.

"No." Wally still couldn't see the kid's face, but he could hear the smile in his voice. "They're just over there." The kid gestured behind Wally, who turned to see who he was pointing at, and frowned when he saw that absolutely nobody was there.

"Uh, I don't know how to tell you this, but…" Wally's voice trailed off as a soft, hypnotizing flute melody filled his ears and seemed to drawn all of his senses. Wally could feel himself growing tired, and the more he tried to fight off the fatigue, the worse it got. The last thing that Wally was aware of before the darkness creeping at the edge of his vision completely took over was a gleeful, almost maniacal laughter and the sound of the flute.

* * *

"...lly. Wally." The young man groaned when he heard his name being called, drawing him back into reality. Wally's head felt heavy and he wanted nothing more than to roll over and go back to sleep...wait a second, he didn't remember going to sleep at all. What had happened to him? Wally groaned and felt a light pat on his right cheek. "Come on, kiddo, time to get up."

"'M no' a kid." Wally muttered as he forced his eyes open. Things were blurry at first, but it didn't take all that long for his vision to start to return to him. There were multiple people crowded around him, and Wally might have felt extremely concerned if it weren't for the fact that the first one that he was actually able to see clearly was a man that he knew really well. "Lenny?"

"Got it in one, kid." Len grinned and helped Wally to sit up. He handed him a glass of what Wally could only assume was water. "Take this. It should help clear your head."

"Thanks." Wally muttered as he accepted the water and drank it without hesitation. Maybe he should be a bit more cautious around a known villain, but he had known Len since he was just a kid, and Wally was far too trusting, and far too groggy, to consider the idea that Len was up to something malicious. "What happened to me?"

"Sorry, that would be my fault." A young man raised his hand, and Wally was slightly ashamed and embarrassed that it took him a few moments to recognize Hartley. Was he still that out of it, or had it really just been that long since he had been around the Rogues? "I haven't had a lot of practice on humans."

...right, because Hartley could basically mind control with his flute. Wally had only ever known him to control rats and other small animals, so it was a bit of a shock to hear that he could do it on larger beings.

"Okay, but why-" Wally didn't even get to finish his question before he was interrupted.

"We wanted to kidnap you." A loud, energetic voice said and Wally was surprised to see the young man who had run into him just before Hartley had knocked him out with his music. Wally was even more surprised to see that he actually now  _recognized_ him to be James. How had he not realized who he was before? Had it really been that long since he had seen them?

"...Why?" Wally asked again, because as far as he knew, the Rogues didn't kidnap people very often. James claimed that he did, but most of his kidnappings were little more than a forced playdate.

"Because you're finally old enough for us to corrupt you without worrying about your uncle throwing us to the cops for it." Mick said, and it was one of the few times where Wally had heard him say anything without growling it. He must really be in a good mood...wait a second, did he just say that Wally was  _old_ enough to do something without getting in trouble for it?

"Oh no." Wally groaned when he realized just what their plan was.

"Oh, yes." Digger laughed as he gestured to where exactly they were, and Wally felt like an idiot for not taking notice of his surroundings earlier. "Welcome to your first bar, kid."

They were, indeed, in a bar.

"Seriously, guys?" Wally glared in annoyance at Len, who raised an eyebrow right back at him.

"Relax, Wally, it's just a bar." Len said. "It's a tradition to get drunk off your ass when you turn 21." All of the Rogues that were crowded around the small booth nodded. "If you don't like it, fine, we won't do this again, but you can't knock it till you try it."

"Just say yes, Wally." Hartley advised as he sent an irritated glare at James, who happily ignored him. "They won't leave you alone until you do.  _Trust_ me."

Wally didn't really have any interest in drinking anything alcoholic, and he never had. His dad used to drink all the time, and it had ruined any desire he might have had. He knew what his dad was like when he was drunk, and he didn't want to be anything like that.

Than again, Wally was also familiar with how Digger and Mick were when  _they_ were drunk (they were hardly ever sober) and he liked them just fine. Wally knew that Len also had a drink every once and a while, just to temporarily numb his stress. Wally had also seen Barry and Iris have the occasional drink at a party or something. A ton of people drank sometimes, and it didn't exactly turn everybody into abusive jerks.

"Yeah, okay." Wally agreed reluctantly. Digger grinned wickedly as he dragged Sam and Mark to the bar to get their drinks. Wally wanted to ask what they were getting, but he didn't think that he even wanted to know. Wally tapped his toes nervously as he looked around the bar. THe place looked surprisingly empty. Wally guessed that Len must have either threatened or bribed the owner to have the place cleared, and Wally appreciated it more than he ever thought he would.

The thing about looking around a place just for the heck of it was that more often than not you find something to focus your attention on, whether or not you were looking for it at all. "James, are you okay?" Wally asked as he eyed the way that the blond was tapping his fingers on the table. James was a hyper guy who never liked to sit still for very long, but this wasn't one of his 'I'm-bored-and-need-to-move-something' taps, it was more like a 'I-really-can't-hold-still-even-if-I-wanted-to' kind of taps. Wally had learned the difference because he saw both kinds in the lecture halls on campus, and the later was definitely more worrying.

"I'm fine." James said quickly.

"Really?" Wally crossed his arms and gave James a stern look. "Because you're acting just like somebody who hasn't got his fix in awhile." When Wally had recognized James as the one who had run into him earlier, he had assumed that the blond had just been putting on an act earlier, but now he wasn't so sure.

"Ha!" Hartley exclaimed in triumph as he smirked at James, who started to pout. "I  _told_ you he was going to notice."

Len looked amused. "He  _did_ tell you, James, now pay up."

James grumbled under his breath and reached into his pocket. He slammed a twenty dollar bill on the table unhappily.

"Okay, what's going on here?" Wally asked in confusion and frustration.

"Calm down, Wally, it's not what you think." Len said. "James just ran out of his meds, and he refused to listen when Hartley told him to get them refilled."

"I don't need them." James grumbled.

"I don't care if you think you need them or not, you little idiot." Hartley said sharply. "We made a deal."

"Wally only noticed because I'm having withdrawals." James complained. "And I wouldn't be getting those if you guys weren't forcing me to take the stupid thing in the first place."

"James," Wally frowned in disappointment and James refused to meet his eyes. "We've talked about this. I know you don't like taking your meds, but you're not well enough to make that decision for yourself. You need to trust the doctors when they say you need to take them, and if you won't trust them, then you need to trust  _me."_

"...Fine." James pouted. He pushed himself away from the booth and went to help the others, or, more likely, he just wanted to get away from the three who were most likely to lecture him, like Wally, Hartley, and Len all had a tendency to do. With James away from the table Hartley muttered under his breath about how stupid and useless his friend was while he slipped his headphones over his ears and began listening to music.

"Thanks." Len said sincerely, which threw Wally off a bit. Len wasn't usually the kind to be sincere about anything. "James has been getting out of hand lately. He and Hartley are butting heads more than ever, and he won't listen to the rest of us about this kind of thing because he doesn't think that we have any right to scold him for making poor decisions."

Wally sighed. "...I'll work with him."

"You're probably the only person he'll actually listen to." Len said, which Wally wasn't all too pleased about, even though he knew that it was probably true. He wanted to be a hero, yes, but it just felt like a lot of responsibility to be the one in charge of making sure that somebody else stayed somewhat sane.

"Yeah," Wally muttered. He felt bad for getting upset because of the way that James was, but it was just...unfair. It was unfair that James had been born the way he was. It was unfair that the only people who actually cared about him were criminals that he wouldn't listen to when they gave moral advice. It was unfair that Wally had to deal with James, and even more unfair that James had to deal with this at all.

But then, since when was life ever fair?

"Alright, that's enough moping." Len said after a moment. "We brought you here so you could relax, not so we could stress you out about different things. So, tell me, how have you been liking that school of yours?"

And just like that Wally was off. It didn't matter how tired he was of school, he still absolutely loved all of his classes, and he was excited to talk about it with somebody who actually cared about what he had to say, whether they were actually interested in the topic or not.

But it was must more fun to talk about something that they could  _all_ enjoy talking about, and there was only one such topic.

"Hey, hey, Wally," James said excitedly, his good mood apparently coming back sometime during the couple of minutes or so that he had been gone. "Did you hear about how I almost took out The Flash?"

"No, I didn't hear about that." Wally grinned as reluctantly accepted a drink from Digger. "What happened?" Wally never cheered for the Rogues, (what kind of hero who was taking a bit of a break would he be if he did?) But he always enjoyed hearing about their more elaborate heists and plans. They all loved thinking outside of the box, and it was really fun to hear about just what their latest scheme had been.

And James' stories were always extremely amusing.

"Oh, it was great," James said as he got into storytelling mood, and the others all prepared themselves by taking a drink. "I decided to try to test out my flying shoes today, and man, you should have seen his face when I walked off that building, it was  _hilarious-"_ James then went on to talk about his heist attempt, which involved a couple of gallons of acid snot and a handful of exploding presents. It was a confusing story, but nobody could say that it wasn't humorous.

"Sounds like you had a lot of fun." Wally snickered as he remembered what Uncle Barry had looked like when he had come home from what had to have been this particular fight. It was a lot funnier now that he had an idea of what had happened.

"I did." James said eagerly. "You should have been there. You're a lot funner to play with than Flasher."

"Maybe Wally will step up again someday." Len said as he sent a meaningful glance Wally's direction.

"Yeah, maybe." Wally returned Len's look with a grin. He had been taking a break from heroism for the past couple of years, but he hadn't completely forgotten about it. Per Len's suggestion, Wally had been researching the speed force in his spare time. It wasn't easy work, and he couldn't even rely on somebody else's studies for it, because nobody else ever  _had_ researched the speed force before. It made things difficult, no doubt about that, but also infinitely more exciting. Wally got a thrill whenever he found some new information about the speed force, because he knew that he was the first one to discover such a thing. The excitement and thrill that came with a new discovery was why Wally loved science so much. There were endless possibilities of what there was to discover and explore, and Wally didn't think he would ever stop trying to find something new.

Wally hadn't necessarily found anything groundbreaking about the speed force, but he certainly understood it better than he did before. Maybe Len was right and someday he would feel comfortable enough with his connection to try to use his powers again, but that would have to be at a later date.

At that moment, Wally was just content to be a part of the Rogue's lives. It still sometimes blew his mind just how much they really did care about each other, and about him. They were an unconventional group, that was for sure, but Wally wouldn't have them any other way.

Wally hadn't been spending as much time with the Rogues these past few years as he would like to. He had gotten it into his head that if he was going to stop being a hero then he needed to cut off ties with anything that had been involved with being a hero, and that included the Rogues. That had been a mistake though, and Wally hadn't realized just how much he had missed them until tonight.

And they had to have missed him too, to put in all this effort just to spend some time with him.

Wally had a busy schedule, with all the extra classes he was taking at school, not to mention work. But if he could find the time to still make Barry and Iris a regular part of his life, then he could make the time to at least make the Rogues a semi-regular part of his life. As sad as it was, they were some of the best friends that Wally had.

And besides, they had already kidnapped Wally once just to make sure he spent time with them, and he had no doubts that they wouldn't hesitate to do it again, and there was no telling how long the kidnapping would last for the next time around. Wally figured it would just be better for everybody if he hung out with them voluntarily at least every once and a while.

Uncle Barry would never have to know.


	8. Chapter 8

The first and only time Wally had ever been to a funeral had been when he was five years old. His grandfather on his father's side had been the one to die. He only had vague impressions of memories of the funeral. The one thing that Wally remembered clearly from that day was that he had been kinda bored, a little confused, and  _very_ uncomfortable.

Wally hadn't known his grandfather all that well, and he had been so young at the time. He understood that his grandfather was gone, and that he wouldn't be coming back. He knew that this was sad, and that everybody there, his parents, his Aunt Iris and Barry, who had just been her boyfriend at the time, and a ton of people that Wally didn't know, were really upset because they would miss him.

Even at that age Wally understood all this. The only thing he didn't get was why  _he_ didn't feel anything. At the time, and for years afterwards, Wally wondered if there was something wrong with him. His grandfather was  _gone_ , and he felt nothing. Sure, Wally  _kinda_ missed him, but more like how he missed his aunt and uncle when it had been a few weeks since he had seen them.

Wally had felt guilty about this for years. This guilt just got worse whenever he ran into somebody at school who was grieving a deceased relative, because he couldn't really empathize with how they were feeling.

It wasn't until Wally was twenty three years old did he have to go to another funeral, and it was probably the worst experience in his life. Worse than the time he had been struck by lightning. Worse than all of those countless nights where he lived in fear and pain because of his father's abuse. Those had been bad times, but Wally had always had people there to support him and bring him up.

But now, one of those people was gone, and he just wasn't going to come back.  _Ever._

Barry Allen was dead.

Wally still had a hard time believing it. His uncle had been his hero for years, and had been for far longer than he had known that the man was the Flash. Ever since Wally was a little kid he had always considered Barry to be his favorite relative, even before he had married Iris. It felt like Wally had  _always_ had Uncle Barry around when he needed him, and now he was just...gone.

It was really hard to be at his uncle's funeral. Wally would give anything to be able to feel like he had at his grandfather's funeral. It had been an uncomfortable feeling, that was for sure, but it was better than this numbing pain that made him feel completely empty inside.

Wally also couldn't help but feel like most everybody who was at the funeral somehow didn't have the right to be, which was ridiculous. Barry had had a lot of friends, and a lot of people were grieving his death, and Wally knew he had no right to dictate just who deserved to be there. It just felt wrong because, as well as all of these people had known Barry Allen, Wally knew that most of them didn't truly  _know_ him, because they hadn't known about the secret but still completely vital part of his life.

Wally and Iris were the only ones there who knew that Barry had been the Flash. Barry had loved being a superhero so much, which was why it felt so wrong for Wally to hear all of these stories being told about Barry Allen, but not one of them mentioned his work as the Flash. Wally knew that it was important that his uncle's identity remain a secret, but that didn't make it any easier.

Wally stood numbly as the funeral services went on around him. He stood by Iris' side and didn't interact with anybody else. Wally wanted this whole thing to just end, but at the same time he didn't want to leave. He just felt discontent with everything, and he didn't know how he could feel better again. Nothing Iris said made anything better. Nothing that  _anybody_ said made anything better, and Wally just wished that they would all just stop trying...and yet, he also hoped that they wouldn't' leave him alone to deal with this by himself.

Wally just didn't know what he wanted. And he hated it.

After some time that felt both like forever and just a couple of of moments, the services were over. Barry was buried. A couple of people started to go home. Most people lingered, either to pay their further respects to Barry, or offer their condolences to Iris. Wally didn't want to deal with any more sympathy and pity, so he subconsciously began to look for an out. A reason, any reason, to leave.

Wally found his excuse when he looked across the cemetery and saw a group of four people that  _really_ shouldn't be there, and Wally couldn't think of any reason why they  _would_ be there. Wally found himself torn between being angry that people who he  _knew_ didn't care about Barry were there , and being relieved that they were there for him.

Wally had a feeling that he wouldn't make up his mind about how he felt until he knew why they were there, which meant that he would have to talk to them. Wally quickly told his aunt where he would be going and who he would be talking to. She clearly didn't approve, but she didn't try to stop him. Iris knew that Wally had a sort of camaraderie with the city's villains, and she understood that the Rogues were different then all the other super villains. She herself didn't think they were good people, but she had never tried to convince Wally of that, which he greatly appreciated.

Once Wally knew that his aunt wouldn't have to worry about where he had wandered off to, he slowly made his way to the other side of the cemetery. Not all of the Rogues were there, which Wally was actually relieved about. Digger, Mick, and Sam were all absent, they were probably all at a bar or something. Wally liked those guys just fine, but they were all blunt and unapologetic in how they felt, and none of them had been very fond of the Flash, which was understandable, but not exactly the kind of thing that Wally wanted to deal with.

The Rogues that  _were_ there though were the ones that either knew Wally best, or had the least personal anger towards the Flash. Lisa had never really cared about any of the heroes, she was only in this whole hero/villain business because she wanted to support her brother. James had probably seen Barry as an unwilling playmate. Hartley hadn't cared either way about the hero, but he  _did_ care about Wally. And then there was Len. Now, he  _did_ have some personal hatred towards Barry Allen, and yet he was still there. And he  _knew_ that Len wasn't there because of his hatred for Barry, but to show support for Wally.

And it was support that Wally really felt like he needed.

"Hey, Kiddo." Len's voice was quiet and, as horrible as Wally felt for even thinking it, more human sounding than he had ever heard from the man. "You holding up okay?"

"Not really." Wally admitted. At his words James let out a noise that sounded like a cross between a whimper and a sob. James then locked Wally into an embrace so firm and awkward that it almost felt like the blond actually thought that Wally physically couldn't hold himself up. To be fair though, these past few days Wally had felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders and had actually wondered a time or two how he could be standing. "I'm glad you guys are here though."

And as sad as it was, that was the truth.

"I'm sorry about your uncle, Wally." Hartley muttered. He sounded awkward and uncomfortable, but Wally knew that he meant it. Hartley wasn't a sentimental person, but if he said anything the least bit emotional, he meant it.

"It's not fair." James muttered angrily. "Flasher was  _our_ hero, and some copycat in a yellow suit thinks that he can just-"

"Calm down, Jamesy." Lisa said in a reassuring but still warning kind of way. It wouldn't do any of them any good for James to lose his cool. "We're here for Wally, remember?"

James took in a deep breath and then slowly let it out. "Y-yeah," James said stiffly, forcefully. "For Wally." James tightened his grip on Wally and began to stroke his hair in what he probably thought was a soothing way. It felt incredibly weird, but Wally was too tired and impressed to pull away. James was clearly furious about what had happened to Barry, but he was trying so hard to hold back his anger to be comforting instead. Wally hadn't known James to do anything of the sort ever before. James very rarely remembered that other people had emotions too, and even when he did he had a hard time understanding what they meant.

Wally stayed with James holding on to him for a few minutes. It felt equal parts awkward and comforting, but that was pretty much average when it came to James. Just when things were starting to tilt more to the awkward side of the scale Len stepped in and dragged James away from him.

"Alright, I let you see Wally, now that's enough." Len's tone was firm, but not unkind. "Come on, Jesse, I need to have a few words with Wally."

James pouted, clearly not happy, but he allowed himself to be pulled away. Hartley took a turn to give Wally a reassuring hug before he lead James away. Lisa put a hand on Len's arm. "Be gentle, Lenny." Lisa's tone made it clear that, whatever this conversation was going to be about, she knew exactly what was up. She wasn't entirely happy about it, but she either believed that the conversation was necessary, or she knew that she wouldn't be able to convince Len to back off. Either way, Wally had a bad feeling about it.

"What's going on?" Wally asked.

"Kid, I got something to say, and I know that you won't want to hear it." Len frowned Seriously. "But I need you to listen to me anyways, alright?"

"...Okay?" Wally always did his best to listen to what Len had to say, because it was usually something important, but he felt wary.

Len sighed, a scowl on his face. Whatever it was that he had to say, he didn't want to talk about it either, which just told Wally that it was  _really_ important. "Wally, we both know that the city lost a lot more than a forensic scientist when your uncle died." Wally felt his chest tighten up. Yeah, he knew that all too well. But what did this have to do with what Len was talking about? Unless Len was saying that...no.

"Len," Wally said in a low, warning voice. He found himself putting his guard up, even though he didn't have that much evidence to suggest that he actually knew where Len was going with this. But he had an idea, and he didn't want to hear it.

"No, Wally, Listen to me." Len's tone was firm and left no room for argument. "Your uncle loved this city, and he loved protecting it. You think he would want it to be left to itself just because he's not around anymore?"

Len was right. Wally  _knew_ that he was right, but he still didn't want to listen. He didn't want to listen to anything that Len had to say, because what did  _he_ know about what Barry would have wanted? And even if he  _did_ know, which Wally's angry, irrational mind refused to accept, what right did he have to say it? Len had  _hated_ Barry.

"Don't talk about what he would have wanted." Wally glared at his old friend. He clenched his hands into fists as he willed them to stop shaking, or vibrating, he wasn't sure which it was. "Don't say it. Just because you want to have someone around for you to fight, you can't just-"

" _Excuse_ me?!" Len's eyes flashed dangerously, and Wally flinched. He had made Len  _mad._  "Do you honestly think that I'm  _anything_ like those freaks that have been running around Gotham lately? That I'm just obsessed with having a 'rival'?"

"I...of course not." Wally winced, because he knew that he couldn't exactly say that that wasn't what he had meant when they both knew that it was. "I...I just-"

Len held out a hand for him to stop. "Forget it, Wally." Len didn't sound so angry anymore, just kinda tired. "You're hurting, and it's making you say stupid things. I get it." And he certainly sounded like he understood. "But Kid, and I'm being completely serious here, the city needs its hero."

"I know." Wally said quietly with a frown. He knew that Central City would probably survive just fine if the only thing that the Flash did was stop criminals but he did much more than that. The Flash was a symbol of hope for the city. Wally knew that at least part of the reason why everybody in Central City was so nice to each other was because of the example that their hero set for them.

The Flash had been Central City's hero for so long that barely anybody could remember a time that he wasn't around. Before Barry had been doing it, Jay Garrick had protected the city. As far as any of the citizens were concerned, he had always been there, and always would be. Wally didn't want to think about what the citizens would think if their hero just stopped showing up for no apparent reason. They would probably either think that he had abandoned them (the very thought made Wally's blood boil), or that he had been defeated by some new threat that nobody knew about. Either way, the result was a loss of hope, and that was the last thing that Wally wanted.

And he knew that it was the last thing that Barry would want.

"I-I don't know if I can." Wally said weakly. He didn't want to try to take his uncle's place as Central City's hero. And even if he did feel okay with giving it a try, Wally didn't know if he was physically capable of it. He hadn't been Kid Flash for years. During that time he had learned a thing or two about the speed force, but he hadn't really done a lot to test out his abilities. He was really out of practice.

"You've got the powers, Wally." Len said. "And you sure as hell got the heart. All you need is a bit of practice."

Wally wasn't sure that throwing himself head first into the hero business when he had been away from it for the past few years was a very good idea. But it wasn't like there was a way for him to just ease himself into it.

"So, here's what we're going to do," Len said, which kinda threw Wally off. He hadn't known that Len had actually had a plan. He should have known though. Len  _always_ had a plan. "The rest of the Rogues have some business in Star City. They'll be gone for three weeks, and will likely be tired for another week or two even after they come back. As for me, I'll be staying in Central City to make sure that no other freaks try to step in on our territory."

If Wally hadn't known Len very well, he would probably have been confused by these words. But he  _did_ know Len, had known him for most of his life, so he understood exactly what the villain was saying. The Rogues wouldn't be causing trouble in Central City for three weeks, they would go easy on him for a bit after that, and Len would make sure that other people didn't try anything during that time.

In short, Len was giving Wally time to get back into the practice of using his powers.

"I...thank you, Lenny." Wally said quietly. He still wasn't sure about picking up his uncle's legacy, but he knew that it had to be done. And if Len thought that he was capable of it, then who was Wally to doubt him?

"Don't mention it." Len said, and Wally knew that he meant it. Len didn't mind doing genuinely kind things every once and awhile, but he hated it whenever anybody brought it up again. "You'd better get back to your aunt before she starts to think that I'm corrupting you."

"Yeah, probably." Wally smiled weakly. "I'll see you around, Len." Wally was tempted to give the man a hug, but he ultimately thought better of it. Len wasn't all that fond of physical contact, and it would probably not be welcomed. Wally just turned around and began to head back to Aunt Iris. She was in the middle of talking to some police officers who had known Barry, but when she saw him coming Iris put an abrupt stop to the conversation.

"Are you alright?" Iris asked as she gently cupped Wally's face. "What did they want?"

"I'm fine, Aunt Iris." Wally said. He wasn't really, but he would be. "Len just wanted to talk business." Wally could see that his aunt was confused and concerned. He would have to talk to her about him taking over as the city's hero, but it would have to wait until later. It wasn't exactly something that could be discussed out in the open. "Everything's fine, Aunt Iris. They weren't here to cause trouble, I swear."

"If you say so." Iris leaned in and kissed Wally's temple. "And you're sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," Wally turned back towards where Len had been and wasn't surprised to see that he was nowhere in sight. That man knew how to make a quick getaway. "I'm sure." Wally put his hands into his pockets and blinked when he felt his left hand brush against what felt like some paper. That was odd. Wally had been sure that his pockets had been empty that morning.

Curious, Wally took the paper out of his pocket and unfolded it so he could see what it was. It was just a simple piece of scrap paper, probably ripped from some notebook. There were three simple words written on the paper, and Wally immediately knew who it was from. Len had always been really gifted at slipping something in or out of someone's pockets without them ever noticing. There was no need for Len to have passed the note to Wally in this way. He could have just as easily handed it to him. No, Len had just wanted to show off. Not that Wally minded.

A part of Wally ached when he saw the simple message. It was the part of him that didn't know if he wanted this life. The other part of him though was glad for the note. It was nice to know that somebody had his back and believed in him, even if he wasn't in a state of mind where he could believe in himself. And Len had always been really good at knowing just the right words to say.

" _Good luck, Flash."_


End file.
